Witnesses: Hamas activist killed in Israeli army raid in West Bank

Hamas activist killed in Israeli raid in West Bank

BEIT AWWA, West Bank — Witnesses say Israeli troops have killed a wanted Hamas activist in a raid on a West Bank house.

The body of the activist, identified by relatives as Ali Sweiti, was carried out of the badly damaged building at the end of the Monday dawn operation.

Palestinian security officials say Sweiti was wanted by Israel since 2004.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Sweiti’s uncle Mahmoud says soldiers surrounded the house before dawn Monday. He says his nephew ignored calls by the troops to surrender and that soldiers opened fire on the building. He denies his nephew returned fire.

Hamas carried out scores of shootings and bombings against Israelis during the second Palestinian uprising that began in 2000.