Tel Aviv  - Israeli undercover commandos shot to death a suspected Palestinian militant late Wednesday in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, the Israeli military and residents said.

The commandos opened fire when the suspect resisted arrest.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the troops gave first aid as they transported the man to an Israeli hospital, but he died before arrival.

She identified the fatality as Talal Saed Halal Abed, 32, of the militant Islamic Hamas movement, and she alleged that belonged to a local militant squad from a village near Jenin that was planning a suicide bombing in Israel.

His squad had been ordered to carry out the suicide bombing by militants in the Gaza Strip, the spokeswoman told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa.

She said that Palestinian security forces had briefly arrested members of the militant squad, but they nevertheless had been able to continue with the planning of the attack unhindered. (dpa)