HIGHLIGHTS: One of Tahir's Deputies Also Killed in Raid & a Third Wounded||Israel Begins Construction of Jerusalem Fence||Occupation Troops Dismantle Laison Office With Palestinians in the Bethlehem Region|| STORY: An Israeli assassination squad killed a top Resistance leader of the military wing of the Islamic group Hamas in a raid on Sunday on a house in the West Bank city of Nablus, Israel Radio said.

Palestinians described the man, Muhanad al-Taher, known as "the Engineer-4," as topping Israel's most wanted list. The radio said Taher, head of Hamas's Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades in the Nablus area, and his men were responsible for the deaths of more than 100 Israelis.

One of Taher's deputies was killed in the raid and a third militant wounded.

Palestinian witnesses said Israeli troops had surrounded the home of one of Taher's associates in Nablus, called on its occupants to evacuate the two-story building and opened fire after they left.

ISRAEL BEGINS CONSTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM FENCE

Israel has started construction on a new electronic fence that will stretch 30 miles and designed to protect three sides of Jerusalem against Palestinian attacks from the West Bank, the defense minister said Sunday during a visit to a building site.
Also, the army oversaw the evacuation of two tiny, unauthorized outposts for Jewish settlers in the southern West Bank, army radio reported. The defense minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, said 10 such outposts were due to be dismantled.

As Israel attempts to guard against bombing and shooting attacks by Palestinians, Ben-Eliezer is overseeing several simultaneous operations.

They include the army's occupation of seven Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank, the building of two separate security fences, and the dismantling of the illegal, isolated Jewish settlements that are difficult for the army to defend.

The Jerusalem fence is similar to a fence that will separate part of the West Bank from Israel farther to the northwest.

Construction on that fence began earlier this month, part of a larger plan to construct barriers that will completely separate Israel from the West Bank - a distance that covers about 215 miles.

Israel began work on a security fence that cover the three sides of Jerusalem - north, south and east - that border the West Bank.

ISRAEL DISMANTLES LIAISON OFFICE WITH PALESTINIANS

Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers dismantled a liaison office with the Palestinians for the Bethlehem region, ordering the staff out of their offices and locking it up.

Occupation soldiers entered the building in Beit Jala where Israelis and Palestinians share liaison offices, ordered the Palestinian staff of about eight to 10 people out, locked the room and left with the keys. 

Additionally, the Israeli side confiscated the furniture and file cabinets inside the office and removed two Palestinian flags that flew over the building. The liaison offices were opened following the signature of Oslo Accords with the goal to coordinate between the Israeli occupation army and Palestinian security services, which carried out joint patrols from the missions.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA, quoting an official Palestinian police statement, confirmed the report and said the Israelis "gave no reason" for this move.

The liaison offices were set up in the West Bank and Gaza Strip under the 1993 autonomy accords.

The Tel Aviv-based newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported on Sunday that plans to dismantle the last vestiges of security cooperation between the two sides showed that Israel's aim was to take sole responsibility for security in the Palestinian territories.

At a later state, Israel would also take charge of civilian administration affairs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to Yediot Aharonot. So far the Israeli defense ministry has ruled out such a development, which would amount to a return to full Israeli occupation.

PHOTO CAPTION

Israeli tanks park in position near the flattened Palestinian Police building June 30, 2002 in the West Bank city of Hebron. Israeli troops reduced the building to rubble in two massive explosions on Saturday triggered against 15 militants that had taken refuge inside and refused to surrender. No bodies had been found by Sunday morning. REUTERS/Loay Abu Hayk