JERUSALEM, Dec 13: The commander of Israeli forces in the West Bank held a recent meeting in prison with a senior member of Hamas's armed wing in a bid to understand what makes him tick, the Maariv daily said on Monday.

General Gadi Eizenkot was told by Imad Qawasmeh, the head of the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, that Palestinian militants would only stop their attacks when they gain independence.

"Even if you raze my home, harass my family, I don't care," the paper's website quoted Mr Qawasmeh as telling the general. "If you hurt someone, we carry out an attack. We only care about one thing: to establish our own independent state and get our land back. You want quiet, give us a state."

Asked what Israeli measures most hampered the planning of attacks, Mr Qawasmeh pinpointed unmanned spy planes and surprise checkpoints. An Israeli source confirmed the meeting but gave no details of their conversation beyond the fact that "it wasn't friendly".

Mr Qawasmeh was arrested on Oct 13 in Hebron. The 32-year-old has been held responsible by Israel for masterminding a double suicide bombing in the town of Beersheva in August that killed 16 Israelis. -AFP