Raed al-Karmi, a commander of a Tanzim militia cell and high on Israel's list of most wanted terrorists, was killed Monday morning in a blast near his hide-out in Tulkarm on the West Bank. Palestinian sources charged that Israel was responsible for assassinating Karmi, but the IDF refrained from comment.

The Prime Minister's office noted that Karmi was responsible for the deaths of nine Israelis and the wounding of many others, and said that Karmi was acting under the direct supervision of Tanzim head, Marwan Barghouti. The Tanzim is a military wing of Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization.

Karmi, 25, was killed while walking in the street when a bomb planted nearby was detonated. Conflicting reports said that a bomb planted near a tree in the local cemetery exploded when Karmi drove by in a passing car. Karmi's friends reportedly carried his body through the streets, calling for revenge.

"Israel started this and we must react. The reaction will come fast - very fast," read a statement issued by the Fatah's Al-Aqsa military wing as reported on Army Radio.

Israeli security sources expressed astonishment that Karmi was walking around freely when the Palestinian Authority had recently reported to EU officials that Karmi was being held in a Tulkarm prison. A Palestinian source told Ha'aretz that Karmi was being held by Palestinian police, but had been allowed out of prison to visit his daughter.

Karmi "was a terrorist of the deadliest kind," Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh told Army Radio. "A man like this is a like a ticking bomb. He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword."

The IDF had targeted Karmi in the past. Missiles were fired at the jeep in which he was traveling on September 6, but he managed to escape.

Karmi blamed for nine Israeli deaths in West Bank
IDF sources said that Karmi and his Tanzim cell were responsible for the kidnapping and killing of Tel Aviv restaurateurs Motti Dayan and Etgar Zeitouny last January. Karmi had acknowledged killing the two to avenge Israel's targeting of a senior Fatah commander, Ha'aretz reported. He is also connected to the murders of Tzvi Shelef, Danny Yehuda, Eli Ne'eman, Danny Roseman, Hananya Ben-Avraham and Lt. Erez Merhavi, soldier Yaniv Levy. the Prime Minister's office reported.

Israel's last reported "targeted killing" attempt took place on December 10, when missiles were fired from an IAF helicopter at Islamic Jihad activist Mohammed Sider in Hebron, but killed two Palestinian children instead.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon related indirectly to Karmi's death when he said that Israel acted only according to security considerations. Sharon refused to state whether Israel had resumed its policy of "targeting" suspected Palestinian terrorists.

"This assassination means that Sharon is insisting on behaving as a state of mafia and gangs, adopting assassinations as a matter of policy and willfully targeting innocent Palestinians," Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi told Reuters.

"These are certainly crimes against humanity. This government has to be restrained. It knows no moral or legal boundaries. There must be intervention to stop it from using the maximum violence against a helpless population," she said.

Palestinians in Tulkarm opened fire on the community of Bat Hefer in the afternoon, in an apparent response to Karmi's death. There were no injuries in the attack, but one of the houses in the community sustained some damage, Army Radio reported.

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