Good job Israel:

In the bloodiest violence in the West Bank in months, special forces operating in the Jenin area on Sunday shot dead seven Palestinians – among them Israel’s most-wanted terrorist, believed to have been behind all the Islamic Jihad suicide attacks during the past year, including the latest bombing in Tel Aviv.

IDF troops and elite border policemen surrounded a home in the village of Kabatiya, near Jenin, on Sunday after receiving intelligence that top Islamic Jihad terrorist Elias Ashkar was holed up inside. After the troops encircled the home, they were fired upon. They returned fire, killing Ashkar and four others.

Earlier in the day, a Palestinian policeman was shot dead by troops during an arrest raid in Jenin.

Among the dead in Kabatiya were Said Hanisheh, 24, an Aksa Martyrs Brigades operative wanted by Israel, and his brother Mujahed, 25, who Palestinians said was not known to be a terror suspect. Later, armored bulldozers were brought in to demolish the house. Troops later shot dead another Palestinian, Jihad Kumayl, 19, who was throwing rocks at the soldiers during the operation.

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed Sunday that Ashkar – dubbed Israel’s No. 1 terror suspect – assembled the explosives belt used in the Tel Aviv suicide bombing last month that killed 11 people, two of whom died of their wounds this past weekend. Ashkar was held responsible by Israel for planning all of the Islamic Jihad suicide bombings in the past year including the Stage nightclub bombing in Tel Aviv which killed four, two suicide bombings in Netanya which killed eight, and a suicide bombing in Hadera in October in which five Israelis were killed. In total, he was held accountable for the murder of close to 40 people.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who last week approved Sunday’s operation, praised the IDF. “This is an important achievement in the war on terrorism,” he said. “This operation matches our policy to continue waging war on terrorists while trying to ease restrictions on the Palestinian people where we can.”

Ashkar, intelligence sources said, was in the midst of planning a suicide attack set to be launched in the coming weeks. He was also behind several recent thwarted terror attempts including the dramatic capture last month of a suicide bomber on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. Security officials predicted that the number of terror alerts would drop as a result of his death.

Ashkar, the Shin Bet said, received funding directly from Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus.

“None of his terror plans would have reached their operational stage if the terror cell had not received funding from the Islamic Jihad headquarters in Syria,” a security official said. “This money is fuel for terror and enables the terrorists to purchase weaponry and explosives and to recruit suicide bombers.”

Besides my Marine Corps I can’t think of a more professional well trained unit other then the IDF.

Bravo!