Ariel Sharon has publicly admitted that his troops deliberately killed a member of the Palestinian movement Hamas.
The killing was in retaliation for the bombing of a nightclub in Tel Aviv last June. More that 20 Israelis died in that attack. The Israeli Prime Minister said that the killing was not the first or the last such operation.
The man was killed at his home in Qaqilya in the West Bank today. Israel accused 35-year-old Abdel Rahman Hamad of being involved in the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
Hamas has threatened retaliation for the killing, which Palestinians branded an assassination. Israel had agreed to halt killings of suspected militants involved on attacks on Israelis as part of a 26 September ceasefire.
It has dealt a blow to hopes of boosting the international coalition against terrorism.
In a separate development, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army said today that he was against easing the blockade on Palestinian territories. He said that he was also against withdrawing tanks from a Palestinian self-rule zone of Hebron.
The announcement came as Prime Minister Sharon was expected to announce both measures as part of a plan to boost a ceasefire agreed to by his foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, and Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.
