In other news from the Middle East, Israeli troops have shot dead Islamic Jihad’s top commander in the West Bank. Loai Assadi is the most senior Palestinian to be killed by Israeli troops since the start of an eight-month-old ceasefire. Islamic Jihad vowed revenge and suggested the killing could mark an end to the ceasefire. Palestinians fired a series of rockets into Israel. Overnight Israel bombed the Gaza towns of Beit Hanun and Rafah. Meanwhile the international Middle East envoy, James Wolfensohn, has accused Israel of behaving as if it has not withdrawn from the Gaza Strip, by blocking its borders and failing to fulfill commitments to allow the movement of Palestinians and goods.