Israel to continue Jihad killings

Eight Palestinians were killed in the last attack in Gaza

The Israeli army says it will continue its policy of trying to kill members of a Palestinian militant group.

Army chief of staff Dan Halutz told a parliamentary committee that targeting Islamic Jihad was an ongoing policy and not a response to specific attacks.

Israel suspended its policy of killing suspected Palestinian militants in February under an informal ceasefire.

But it resumed last month after six Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing claimed by Islamic Jihad.

Mr Haluz said what Israel calls targeted killings was the most effective weapon to fight Palestinian militants.

On 27 October, an Israeli missile attack killed eight Palestinians, four of them militants and four bystanders, in the northern Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the Fatah party of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is to hold the first primary vote in its history to choose candidates for the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January.

The vote later this month will elect a list of 268 candidates, from which Mr Abbas and other Fatah leaders will choose 134 to stand in the election.

The decision to give the leadership the final say in who stands for parliament has angered some younger members of Fatah, who fear being excluded by the older generation.