Second Activist in W. Bank Attack Killed

18/01/2003| IslamWeb

Israeli occupation soldiers tracked and killed the second resistance activist of an attack on a West Bank Jewish settlement early Saturday, the occupation army said. Two men attacked the settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron on Friday, killing one Israeli and injuring three others. One of the resistance men was shot and killed in the attack. The other was found and chased by occupation soldiers early Saturday. In the pursuit he was shot and killed, the occupation army said. He was found wearing an ammunition vest but was not carrying a gun.

The resistance group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack in a leaflet distributed in Hebron.

The attack began after dark when the resistance men knocked on the door of a home, shooting and killing a man who answered the door, and then shooting and lightly injuring a four-year-old girl and two young men inside, the occupation army said.

Another person inside the house shot and killed one of the men, who was masked and armed with an M-16 gun and a pistol, while the other attacker fled, the occupation army said.

Hamas said the attack was in retaliation for the Israeli occupation army occupation of Palestinian towns. Israel says the occupation troop deployments in seven of the eight major West Bank towns in recent months are necessary to prevent resistance bombings and attacks.

Tensions have been high in the Hebron area since Nov. 16, when 12 members of the Israeli occupation army forces were killed in an ambush by Palestinian resistance men between Kiryat Arba and Hebron. But the region has been relatively calm recently despite more than two years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat  called last week on resistance groups to abstain from attacks in order not to influence the Israeli elections on Jan. 28. Israel has tried not to ignite the situation so as not to distract world attention from a possible U.S. offensive against Iraq.

Meanwhile, Israelis and Palestinians prepared Friday for any U.S. military action in Iraq, with Palestinians demonstrating in favor of Saddam Hussein  and Israelis lining up to receive equipment to protect them in the event of a chemical or biological attack by Iraq.

Israeli fears Iraq might retaliate against the country in response to a U.S. strike were renewed by Thursday's discovery of empty chemical warheads near Baghdad.

Also Friday, the Islamic resistance group Hamas claimed it was behind a botched attack with a booby-trapped raft. An Israeli navy gunship fired on the dinghy, causing a large explosion off Gaza's northern coast. Hamas did not say what the attacker's target was, but several Jewish settlements are near that stretch of shore.

In Gaza City, about 3,500 Palestinians filled narrow streets with fluttering Iraqi flags and pictures of Saddam. Some chanted together, "Our beloved Saddam, strike Tel Aviv," reviving an old slogan from the 1991 Gulf War .

Arafat, who backed Iraq in 1991, has withheld public support for Saddam. Still, members of his Fatah movement were among the demonstrators and Palestinian police officers did not try to break up the rally.

Israelis, meanwhile, feared Iraqi missile attacks on their cities if the United States strikes against Iraq. In Jerusalem's largest shopping mall, dozens of Israelis lined up to get gas masks. Most of Israel's 6.6 million people have received gas masks from the military over the years.

In recent days, American military commanders, including Gen. Charles Simpson of the U.S. European command, have visited Israel to smooth communication between the two country's militaries, U.S. Embassy spokesman Paul Patin said.

Gen. Charles Wald, the newly appointed deputy commander of the U.S. European command, is headed to the region next week.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian demonstrators burn an Israeli flag during a rally against U.S. military intervention in Iraq in the West Bank town of Nablus Saturday Jan. 18, 2003. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)