Good news from Israel, where the ranks of terrorist gang leaders have been severely thinned: Nablus Tanzim head killed.

During the operation, the IDF troops swept through the Casba, blowing open doors or using sledgehammers to knock them down. Palestinian reports said soldier sealed some alleys with cement blocks and barbed wire to trap the fugitives inside. The army slapped a full curfew on the city since the operation began early Thursday.

Nablus Fatah Tanzim head Nayef Abu Sharkh was shot along with five other Palestinians — all Popular Front and Islamic Jihad senior members by soldiers who arrived at their hiding place, in which the five were holed up. The troops found the terrorists following intelligence gained from an armed Palestinian captured earlier, reported Army Radio.

The terrorists killed include Jafer el-Massari, the commander of Hamas’ military wing (Izzadin El Kassam) and Fadi Bagit, the commander of the Islamic Jihad’s El-Quds (Jerusalem) Platoons.

The three were in a secret tunnel behind a bathroom wall, military sources said. One wounded survivor was captured and taken in for medical treatment and interrogation. Paratroopers came upon the hidden room as a result of an earlier clash with two gunmen in the Casba. The troops shot dead one of the gunmen. The other escaped but was observed fleeing into what he thought was a hideaway.

When the troops approached they discovered a secret room and called on those hiding inside to surrender. When they refused soldiers tossed inside hand grenades and opened fire with machine guns. It was not clear if the Palestinians fire back.

Military sources said that besides the five bodies and the wounded Palestinian, soldiers found inside the hidden room a number of bombs and weapons. A fire began and some soldiers suffered from the smoke and were treated.

Got intifada?