The Israeli army killed a top Hamas activist in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, Palestinian medical workers and witnesses said. Israeli troops fired a shell at the house of Shihab al-Natsheh in the city of Hebron after he refused to surrender and opened fire at troops, locals said, according to Reuters.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers clashed with a "group of gunmen" in the city, killing a "militant."
Hamas' armed wing, the Izz el-Din Brigade, vowed to avenge Natsheh's killing. "Our response will be swift and painful," the group said in a statement.
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