Palestinian Arrested in Killing of Israeli

Israeli troops on Monday arrested a Palestinian suspect in the killing of an Israeli police officer in a West Bank toy store and imposed a curfew on the Arab village where the shooting occurred.

Meir Alush, 40, was shot to death Sunday as he was shopping with his wife and year-old son in the toy store in the village of Biddiya, near the Jewish settlement of Ariel.

His wife, Nitza, suffered gunshot wounds to the back and chest. The child, Chai, was unhurt, Israel Radio reported. Alush was to be buried Monday.

The attack was the third in about two weeks by suspected Palestinian guerrillas and follows the victory of hard-line candidate Benjamin Netanyahu in the May 29 election for prime minister.

Israeli security sources said one suspect was detained in connection with Sunday’s attack, and authorities believe he acted on his own because the police officer had stopped at the store on a whim.

The army put the area under curfew Sunday and began searching the village for suspects. Israeli troops kept Palestinian police from entering the village, which is in an area of the West Bank where Israel retains final say on security.

Israel’s West Bank commander, Maj. Gen. Uzi Dayan, said the curfew, which kept stores in Biddiya closed and residents at home, was to show that “after an incident of this sort, business will not go on as usual.”