Jerusalem ? An Israeli tank shelled a house in the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday, killing a suspected Hamas bombmaker whose work is blamed for the deaths of at least 100 Israelis in suicide bombings.

Israel also started building a towering electronic fence that will protect three sides of Jerusalem against Palestinian attacks, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said on a visit to the area Sunday.

“I am happy that … we have started with the project,” said Ben-Eliezer, who is also overseeing other security operations: the army’s occupation of seven Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank, and the dismantling of illegal, isolated Jewish settlements that are difficult for the army to defend.

In the assault in Nablus, the army said special forces killed Mohammed Tahir, described as a local leader of the militant Islamic Hamas movement. His attacks included the June 18 bombing of a Jerusalem bus that killed 19 and the June 1, 2001, attack on a Tel Aviv disco that killed 21, the army said.

Palestinians described Tahir as one of the leading bombmakers in the Hamas military wing, Izzadine al Qassam. A Tahir aide was also killed and another Hamas activist was seriously wounded, the army said.

The Jerusalem fence, which will stretch 30 miles, is similar to one that will separate part of the West Bank from Israel further to the northwest. Construction on that fence began earlier this month, part of a larger plan to construct barriers that will completely separate Israel from the West Bank a distance of about 215 miles.

Israel will first build the fence at some points about 15 feet high at the city’s northern and southern ends, which should take about three months, said Amos Yaron, director general of the Defense Ministry.

Jerusalem has been hit harder than any other Israeli city during the Palestinian uprising, and security forces have set up barricades to keep West Bank Palestinians from reaching Jerusalem.

Since the beginning of 2002, 63 Israelis and foreigners have been killed in bombings, shootings and stabbings in Jerusalem.

The army on Sunday oversaw the evacuation of two tiny, unauthorized outposts for Jewish settlers in the southern West Bank, army radio reported. Ben-Eliezer said other illegal settlements would also be demolished. Israeli officials said settlers were cooperating with the actions.

On Sunday, a bomb exploded on a railroad in central Israel as a passenger train passed by, damaging one carriage, but causing no serious injuries.