Walid Obeidi, an Islamic Jihad leader, was shot dead in the town of Qabatiya,
near the city of Jenin, in a shootout with Israeli troops who had been seeking to arrest him.
According to local media, Obeidi was suspected of involvement in a series of terrorist acts in Israel, including a blast in Tel Aviv in May 2006 which claimed 11 lives.
On Wednesday morning, Palestinian militants continued rocket strikes on south Israel. Police said over two dozen rockets launched from Gaza had hit Sderot and its outskirts. The strikes were a response by Hamas militants to Israel's raid on northern Gaza on Tuesday in which some 20 Palestinians, many of them suspected insurgents, were killed.
The attacks continue against the backdrop of internationally-sponsored fragile attempts by Israel and the moderate Fatah, which controls the West Bank, to reach a peace agreement.
"Rocket attacks and all terrorist acts against Israeli civilians must be immediately stopped, as well as reactions that cause the suffering of innocent Palestinians," said Mikhail Kamynin, the official spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of Russia, a co-sponsor of the Middle East peace process.
