HEBRON, West Bank () -- A wanted Moslem militant trying to break through a cordon of Israeli troops surrounding his hideout opened fire Thursday, seriously wounding an Israeli officer before he was killed by army gunfire.


The man slain in the predawn raid was Taher Kafisheh, 24, commander of an armed squad of the Moslem militant group Hamas.


Kafisheh's group was suspected of having killed six Jewish settlers in shooting ambushes in the Hebron area.


The raid raised the specter of Hamas revenge attacks at a time when Israel and the PLO are involved in intense negotiations on a West Bank troop pullback and Palestinian elections.