Israeli forces assassinate Fatah fighter 'the giant' during invasion of Jenin

Editorial Note: The following news reports may be summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology.

Date: 02 / 07 / 2007 Time: 10:49

Jenin – Ma'an –

The commander of the Al Aqsa Brigades in Jenin was killed during an armed clash with Israeli forces on Monday at dawn.

Israeli troops launched an incursion into Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank, in the early hours of Monday morning.

A fierce clash erupted between the troops and resistance fighters, in which the commander of the military wing of Fatah was assassinated.

Eyewitnesses told Ma'an, "Mahmoud Abu al Hayjah, aged 24, also known as 'the giant', was killed during an armed clash."

Palestinian security sources informed Ma'an's correspondent that an Israeli force comprising around eight military vehicles, and accompanied by a bulldozer, stormed the camp at dawn.

The progression of the forces into the camp was foiled by Palestinian combatants, added the sources.

Security sources told Ma'an "the struggle erupted, and ended in the martyrdom of Mahmoud Abu al Hayjah."

Funeral for 'the giant'

Thousands of Palestinians from Jenin participated in the funeral procession of Abu al Hayjah.

Abu al Hayjah was the founder of a joint group of fighters, from both the Al Aqsa Brigades and the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Al Quds Brigades, in Jenin refugee camp.

The procession was led by the deceased's mother, in addition to the leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank, Zakaria Zubeidi.

Gunshots were fired into the air as a mark of respect and the public shouted for the continuation of armed resistance against the Israeli occupation.

Zubeidi delivered a speech declaring that the Palestinian resistance would not abandon arms until the Israeli occupation is defeated and a Palestinian state is established.

He also announced that the brigades' joint unit carried out its first retaliatory action to the killing of their leader when they fought Israeli troops at the Salem military checkpoint, located west of Jenin.

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