Israeli Troops Kill Hamas Bomb Maker

Israeli commandos said they killed a Hamas bomb maker in a firefight Friday and pulverized the seven-story apartment building where he had been hiding, leaving dozens of Palestinians homeless.

An Israeli soldier was killed and four were wounded in the battle, which took place after soldiers surrounded the 3-year-old building and ordered residents out. The Israelis said they blew up the structure more than six hours after the fighting because they believed that some militants might be inside.

The Hamas explosives expert who was killed, 26-year-old Mohammed Hanbali, was involved in bombings and shootings that killed at least 36 Israelis and wounded hundreds, the army said. Hanbali also recruited members and trained them in making explosives, the military said.

Dore Gold, an Israeli government spokesman, said Israel had no choice but to act.

“Israel is not seeking to be in Nablus but is only there because the area is a constant source of terror attacks on Israeli civilians,” he said.

Eight of the 15 apartments in the building demolished Friday had been occupied, housing about 50 people. Residents included shopkeepers, accountants and professionals.

One of them, Mona Sobah, was at a nearby elementary school, still dressed in the black bathrobe she wore when soldiers asked her to leave. “I have only this,” she said, raising her identity card. “I thought we were only being asked to leave for a few minutes.”

The Israeli military said that Hanbali, armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and standing on top of an elevator between the building’s lower floors, ambushed troops as they pried open doors to the elevator shaft above, on the fifth floor. The shots killed an Israeli naval commando, Sgt. Maj. Raanan Kumimi. Soldiers returned fire, killing Hanbali.