To the arguement about Israel's IDF sometimes targeting ambulences...
Wanted Palestinians arrested riding in Red Crescent ambulance
By Amos Harel, Jonathan Lis and Nadav Shragai, Ha'aretz Correspondent, and agencies
Military sources said Wednesday that IDF reserve troops arrested a Palestinian on Israel's most wanted list, travelling on a Red Crescent ambulance, at the Rama checkpoint north of Jerusalem.
The sources said that the Palestinian told the soldiers that he had hidden explosives in the ambulance, and sappers sent to the area found an explosive belt in the vehicle.
The security establishment has justified in the past the prevention of Palestinian ambulances evacuating casualties from area of combat, saying that the ambulances were used to smuggle terrorists and weapons. This is the first time clear proof of this claim has been found.
IDF troops killed two Palestinian during a manhunt that began late Tuesday night for infiltrators who entered Israel near Kibbutz Kissufim, east of the Gaza Strip. One of the infiltrators was killed late Tuesday night and the second was killed Wednesday morning.
Two Israeli soldiers were shot during the manhunt in an exchange of fire with the infiltrators. One of them, the deputy commander of an armored unit suffered light to moderate wounds and was taken to the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva. The second soldier sustained light injuries and was treated at the scene.
IDF troops arrested a Hamas activist in the West Bank city of Hebron late Tuesday night. An IDF soldier from a commando unit was injured in the operation, which was conducted in a Palestinian-controlled area. A Border Police unit arrested late Tuesday night an FPLF activist in the Azzariyeh neighborhood near Jerusalem.
European observers killed
Two members of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) observers force were killed Tuesday, after the vehicle in which they were traveling came under fire from an unknown source.
Israeli troops searched the area but were unable to locate the gunmen. Palestinian sources, including Hebron mayor Mustafa al-Natsheh, denied that Palestinians were involved in the shooting.
The attack took place on the Trans-Judean highway, near Halhul, north-west of Hebron, at around 8:30 P.M.
A Norwegian official in the West Bank said the two dead were a Turkish man and a Swiss woman. There was no immediate comment from the peace force. The two were the first members of the force to be killed in the West Bank.
Initial reports indicate that the two were killed by Palestinian gunmen, with IDF sources saying that no Israeli troops were stationed in the area. Since TIPH vehicles are clearly marked with the organization's logo, Israeli sources believe that the fatal shots were fired from a moving vehicle, traveling at speed.
Turkish TV identified the dead Turkish observer as Maj. Cengiz Soytunc. Capt. The Swiss observer was not immediately identified.
Huseyin Ozaslah, a Turkish observer wounded in the attack said, "The driver's blood splashed on my face and I heard, you know, he shoot. And I think he finished his magazine and he didn't check if all of us are dead or not, and he escaped. But I saw him. He was a Palestinian in police force uniform and carrying a Kalashnikov. And he finished his whole magazine, that means thirty bullets, I think."
Palestinian denial
But the mayor of Palestinian-ruled Hebron denied Palestinian gunmen were behind the attack.
"The observers were shot by Israeli soldiers who, according to doctors, fired... bullets which are only used by the Israeli army," Mayor Mustafa al-Natsheh told Reuters.
In a statement, the Palestinian Authority said it blamed the shooting on Israeli forces and expressed "its condolences to the families of the victims, to the Turkish government and the Swiss government."
The force, made up of unarmed observers from Scandinavian and European countries, was set up under a 1997 agreement dividing Hebron into Palestinian and Israeli-controlled zones.
The city was divided because about 450 Israeli settlers live in three enclaves in the center of the city, among about 130,000 Palestinians. The TIPH observers, recognizable by their clearly-marked white cars, make periodic reports about violations of the truce.
Settlers charge that the observers are biased against them, while Palestinians say that the settlers, among the most militant in the West Bank, constantly harass the local Palestinians.
haaretzdaily.com |
