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Palestinian ambush kills 12 Israelis in West Bank
By NASSER SHIYOUKHI, Associated Press HEBRON, West Bank -- Jewish worshippers walking out of a shrine in the West Bank city of Hebron were caught in a hail of bullets fired by Palestinian militants -- an ambush that killed 12 Israelis and wounded 15. Three of the assailants were killed during Friday's attack, said Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinski, army commander responsible for the West Bank. The Friday attack came five days after a Palestinian gunman killed five people on an Israeli kibbutz, and was likely to increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to react decisively. One idea likely to arise again is the expulsion of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat which has been strongly advocated by Israel's new foreign minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israelis were emerging from Sabbath prayers in the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a shrine in downtown Hebron, and were walking back to the Kiryat Arba settlement when Palestinians fired assault rifles and hurled grenades from a nearby building, Kaplinski told reporters in a briefing. 'There was gunfire from left and right, from every possible angle, they were shooting at us from above,' one man, who gave his name only as Arik, told Army Radio. 'The group of Jews were slaughtered.' A nearby army post and soldiers rushing to the scene were also caught in the ambush. A gun battle raged for more than 90 minutes, making it difficult for troops to reach the wounded. Flares lit up the night sky and military helicopters helped evacuate the wounded, including the regional brigade commander and members of his entourage. Troops hunted for the gunmen, and TV reports said more gunfire erupted as soldiers surrounded a Palestinian home. The militant Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility, saying it was avenging the killing of its northern West Bank commander, Iyad Sawalha, by Israeli troops several days ago. In the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, dozens of Islamic Jihad supporters rushed into the streets in celebration, some firing in the air. 'This is retaliation for the daily crimes and ugly massacres committed by the Zionist occupation against our people,' one armed man said over loudspeaker. Hebron is a divided city long plagued by religious tensions and flashes of furious violence. The Muslims here are among the most devout and the Jewish settlers among the most radical, and there are daily provocations and practically no neighborly relations between the two sides. Hours after the ambush, Israeli military helicopters fired missiles into Gaza City, hitting a metal workshop in a congested area, witnesses said. The army said it was used by Palestinian militants to manufacture weapons. No injuries were reported. It was the deadliest attack on Israelis since Oct. 21, when 14 people were killed in a bus bombing in northern Israel. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the Palestinians had carried out a 'Sabbath massacre.' 'No political process can take root while these atrocities continue to be carried out by Palestinian terrorists,' said ministry spokesman Gilad Millo. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was 'horrified by the despicable terrorist attack.' Annan has spoken out against Israeli military actions, but Friday's statement was one his toughest on Palestinian violence. The attack came as Egypt and Arafat's Fatah movement were trying to persuade the Islamic militant group Hamas to stop attacks on civilians in Israel, at least until after Israel's Jan. 28 election. Islamic Jihad is not part of the talks -- and even an agreement in those negotiations would not have stopped Friday's attacks, since a possible moratorium would not apply to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The so-called 'worshippers' lane,' which links the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba and downtown Hebron, has been targeted by Palestinian gunmen in the past. 'It's a real problem to secure every centimeter ... and this time, through careful, intricate planning ... the attack succeeded,' said reserve Col. Yoni Fiegel, a former commander of Hebron. There was no immediate reaction by the Palestinian Authority. Also on Friday, in Anzar, a Palestinian village near the West Bank town of Jenin, Israeli troops killed Mahmoud Obeid, 28, an activist in Arafat's Fatah movement, as he tried to evade arrest, army officials said. Obeid's father, Abbas Obeid, said his son was shot and killed when he opened the door to his house to look outside. And in the West Bank city of Ramallah, several Israeli soldiers stopped a Palestinian producer with Associated Press Television News. Haitham Hamad said he was beaten and kicked in the legs and head, even after identifying himself as a journalist. He was briefly treated at a hospital and released. The army said it was checking the incident. Friday's shooting attack came after the start of the Jewish Sabbath. Nearly all settlers in Hebron and many residents of Kiryat Arba are religiously observant and hold Friday evening prayers at the Tomb, which is revered by both Muslims and Jews as the traditional burial place of the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
