Palestinian intelligence service arrested Saturday two Bethlehem residents Friday, who they said were suspected of helping Israel to carry out the assassination of Atef Abayat, the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz newspaper reported.
The Fateh member, one of the most senior Palestinian militants on the Israeli army's wanted list, was killed Thursday afternoon in a car bomb explosion between the Bethlehem and the nearby town of Beit Sahur, the daily reported.
Two other Palestinians, Issa Atef Khatib and Jamal Abdullah Abayat, also members of the Palestinian Fateh movement, were killed in the blast.
Shin Bet security services said Abayat was killed because he was responsible for the deaths of at least five Israelis and the wounding of dozens of others.
The explosion appeared to be yet another in Israel's long line of assassinations, which are estimated at over 45 in the course of the latest Palestinian uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation.
Palestinians sources said they believed that a collaborator planted a bomb in Abayat's jeep - Albawaba.com
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