Israel this evening indicted Marwan Barghouthi, one of the top leaders of the Palestinian uprising, over the killings of scores of Israelis in a revolt which the handcuffed prisoner vowed would be victorious.
"The Intifada will win," a defiant Barghouthi shouted in Hebrew at reporters who packed a Tel Aviv District Court where Israel is conducting its first civilian trial of a major player in the nearly two-year-old uprising for independence.
Just hours later, Israeli forces killed a wheelchair-bound Hamas militant leader when they shelled a house he was staying in and flattened it with a bulldozer in the northern West Bank village of Tubas, witnesses said.
The army said Nasr Jarrar, 44, lost both legs and one arm while preparing a bomb a year ago but despite that was planning new suicide bombings, including a "mega-attack" on a multi-story building in Israel. Hamas vowed to avenge his death.
Israel was expected to use the proceedings against Barghouthi, charismatic leader of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction in the West Bank, as a showcase for allegations that groups linked to the Palestinian president are tainted by terrorism.
But legal analysts say the case could boomerang against Israel as Barghouthi's Palestinian lawyers could use the media spotlight to present their client as the victim of a politically motivated bid to discredit the Palestinian Authority.
Barghouthi, who has professed his innocence, was not asked to enter a formal plea during the 15-minute inaugural session. His lawyers argued that Israeli courts had no authority to try their client, a member of the Palestinian legislature.