The Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations must be declared as terror organizations or this entire US "war on terror" is little more than a farce!
Gunmen kill 2 in Gaza settlement; may have taken hostages
by Amos Harel, Nadav Shragai and Haim Shadmi
Courtesy of Haaretz
Two Israelis - a boy and a girl, both 18 years-old- were killed and at least 14 people were injured, one of them critically, when Palestinian gunmen infiltrated the Elei Sinai settlement in the north of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening.
The gunmen took over a house in the settlement and may have taken hostages. An expolsive device exploded at the time of the shooting. Channel Two news reported that among the injured were children. Five soldiers are among the injured in the attack - an officer was moderately injured and four soldiers are in light to moderate condition. Two other people were seriously injured and one person is in critical condition. The injured were taken to the Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva and to the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon.
It was believed to be the first time that Palestinian militants had entered a Gaza settlement to carry out an attack. The Al Jazeera television station reported that two armed Palestinians raided the settlement.
Large IDF forces arrived at the area. Residents of the Elei Sinai settlement were instructed by the IDF to remain in their houses and to turn off the lights as long as the attack continued.
Reports that one or more Palestinian gunmen entered the nearby settlement of Dugit turned out to be mistaken.
Israel media reported Tuesday that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was considering convening his cabinet during the night to discuss the response to the attack and the impact of the operation on the cease-fire.
"The Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations must be declared as terror organizations," Sharon said Tuesday at a conference of the Christian Friends of Israel in Jersualem. He also said that Arafat must be pressured to dismantle the terror coalition he built in the territories. He also said that Israel will not risk it's citizens' lives to appease the Arab states in order that they join the coalition against terror led by the United States.
A mortar shell was fired Tuesday evening at a settlement at the south of the Gaza Strip, while the attack was takng place. There were no injuries.
Earlier Tuesday a mortar shell was fired by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and landed near a house in a southern Gaza settlement, but did not detonate. IDF sappers later safely neutralized the mortar. There were no injuries but the house was damaged.
The Palestinian Authority condemned a raid by Palestinian gunmen on a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and pledged to punish those responsible. "The Palestinian leadership strongly condemns and denounces the operation which took place in Alei Sinai settlement in northen Gaza Strip," the Palestinian Authority said in a statement.
"The leadership confirms that the operation (attack)
represented a violation to the ceasefire and the leadership declares it has taken and will take the appropriate measures on the Palestinian side to secure the respect for the ceasefire and to put a quick and decisive limit to any violation from our side," it said.
Palestinian sources said Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority has arrested a senior Tanzim member, Atef Abayat, who is suspected of being involved in the murder of Sarit Amrani from Nokdim two weeks ago. Israel had demanded that the Palestinian Authority arrest Abayat, a resident of Behtlehem, in ameeting held last week between Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Hundreds of Palestinian students and professors from Bir Zeit University in the West Bank protested Tuesday at the A-Ram road block near Ramallah, which leads to the university. The protested against the closure and restriction on traffic netween Jerusalem and Ramallah, which means that the students and lecturers are unable to reach the university. The demonstrators, who were also proesting Israel's closure of Palestinian cities, clashed with IDF soldiers at the site.
IDF troops fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets at the protestors, who responded by throwing rocks at the soldiers. Six people were lightly injured by rubber bullets, a further 20 were treated for gas inhalation, Palestinian ambulance workers at the scene said.
At Meshulash Hagdud junction, near the West Bank town of Tul Karm, Palestinians threw rocks and over 20 Molotov cocktails at Border Policemen on Tuesday. IDF troops returned fire using rubber-coated bullets. There were no reports of injuries. |
