Israeli forces killed a member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat?s Fatah movement while on a West Bank swoop yesterday, witnesses said.

Israeli military sources confirmed troops killed Jamil al-Tel in Daheriya village outside Hebron, calling him a fugitive from the Fatah-linked militant group Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. They said he was shot while behaving ?suspiciously?.

Daheriya residents said Tel had no known militant links. They had initially assumed the army was after Tel?s brother, a member of the Palestinian security services wanted for alleged involvement in a more than three-year-old Palestinian revolt.

According to witnesses, army forces surrounded Tel?s home and when the 32-year-old emerged, the troops shot him dead.

Israeli military sources said Tel refused orders to come out and be arrested. ?Eventually our forces spotted a suspicious figure on the roof and opened fire. The man, who was killed, turned out to be the terrorist we were seeking,? a source said.