Naval commando Second Petty Officer Ra'anan Komemi, 23, of Moshav Aminadav, was killed and four soldiers wounded, during an operation to capture a Hamas fugitive in Nablus early Friday morning.
The target of the operation was Muhammad Hanbali, 27, a senior Hamas commander in north Samaria and an expert bombmaker responsible for the murder of scores of Israelis, according to the IDF. Security officials said Hanbali was in the final stages of planning a suicide bombing.
Hanbali managed to shoot Komemi and several other soldiers before being killed. The wounded soldiers, one of whom was in a serious condition, were taken to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba. On Thursday, Golani Brigade Sgt. Gavriel Uziel, 20, of Givat Ze'ev, was killed in a similar operation in Jenin.
In Friday's operation, the special forces surrounded a seven-story building in the Raffidiyah neighborhood where Hanbali was hiding and ordered residents to leave. They sent in tracker dogs together with their handlers from the Oketz battalion along with the commandos. The forces scoured the first three floors for fugitives and were about to begin searching the fourth floor, when Hanbali, standing on the roof of the lift that had stopped between floors, opened fire at them meters from the entrance to the lift.
Komemi wore a ceramic bulletproof vest, but was shot in the unprotected gap between the upper chest and neck. A dog handler was seriously wounded and three other soldiers suffered shrapnel wounds.
Hanbali was killed in the return fire. Following the incident, the soldiers left the building after it was deemed too dangerous to continue searching for other fugitives believed to be still inside.
Hanbali's father identified his son and the soldiers then gave families an hour to take their belongings outside of the building before they blew it up.
The naval commandos as well as other IDF units operate around the clock to thwart terrorist attacks, Brig.-Gen. Gadi Eizencott told reporters hours later at a briefing near Kedumim. While Nablus is not under curfew, the constant attempts by terrorists to leave the city and perpetrate attacks has meant that troops have had to operate constantly in the city to thwart such plans, he said. In the past week alone, security forces have arrested 150 Palestinians suspected of terrorist activities, among them fugitives, he said.
Officials said Hanbali was directly involved in two suicide bomb attacks in which five people were killed and 20 wounded. He was also linked to several bombings carried out by Nablus Hamas cells, including the bus bombing at Jerusalem's Pat Junction in June 2002 in which 19 were killed and the bus bombing in Haifa in December in 2001 in which 12 were killed. Officials noted that Hanbali was extremely skilled in preparing bombs. During the so-called cease-fire declared by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah, Hanbali recruited activists to the cause, established new bomb factories, and manufactured bombs and explosives belts to be used in attacks, they said.
Komemi was buried on Friday afternoon at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery. His friends said it had been his dream to serve in the naval commandos and that he had even turned down an opportunity to serve in the elite General Staff Reconnaissance Unit. He even underwent Laser surgery on his eyes so as not to spoil his chances of being accepted into the commandos. He is survived by his parents and three sisters.
Elsewhere over the weekend
Two bombs were thrown at soldiers near the Balata refugee camp in Nablus and later shots were fired at soldiers in the camp
Shots were fired at soldiers deployed near Jenin.
In Dura, west of Hebron, soldiers captured a fugitive and found in his home an M-16, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, ammunition clips, and IDF uniforms
IDF troops and Border Police sappers blew up three roadside bombs placed by Palestinians on the road between Alei Zahav and Rosh Ha'ayin
In the Gaza Strip on Saturday, a soldier was lightly wounded when shots were fired several times at an IDF post near Rafah. The army said the soldier was taken to the hospital
Two grenades were thrown at an IDF post in Gush Katif
