Palestinian militants kill Israeli hitchhiker
Palestinian militants today killed an Israeli hitchhiker, the third Israeli to be killed in the past five days in a flare-up of violence that threatens a truce reached in February.
The shooting attack, along with internal Palestinian unrest in the West Bank town of Jenin, highlighted the difficulties Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas faces in restoring order ahead of an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in August.
Gunmen shot a group of hitchhikers as they were getting into a car near Beit Haggai, a Jewish settlement just south of the West Bank city of Hebron, the army said. A teenage hitchhiker was killed and three others were wounded, one of them critically, the army said.
The gunmen sped off, firing a few minutes later at another Israeli car, the army said. One Israeli was wounded in the second attack.
The attacks overshadowed efforts by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Abbas to quell more than four years of fighting and ensure a smooth withdrawal in August.
The violence cast a pall over a Sharon-Abbas summit on Tuesday.
Israel announced this week that it’s renewing its policy of hunting down and killing militants.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Jihad militant group threatened to launch fresh attacks, and the Palestinian Authority has refused to give in to Israeli and US pressure to disarm militants.
Abbas prefers to co-opt the militants, fearing civil war if he pursues a crackdown.
The latest violence could cause Israel to reconsider a recent promise to give the Palestinians control over two additional West Bank towns; the truce deal in February included an Israeli pledge to hand over five towns, only two of which have been delivered.
“Continued acts of Palestinian terrorism demonstrate to everyone the necessity that the Palestinian Authority fulfil its obligation to the international community and start effective and ongoing measures against the terrorist organisations who are trying to destroy any chance of reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians,” said Mark Regev, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman.
The attack near Hebron came as Palestinian police swept through Jenin in a hunt for militants who killed an officer yesterday while shooting at a police station.
After the late-night attacks, dozens of police, some in jeeps, some on foot, cordoned off parts of the town, its refugee camp and the surrounding area. Abbas called the dead policeman’s family to express his condolences and pledged to arrest those responsible. The policeman’s family said he would not be buried until the militants were rounded up.
During a raid early today, a militant holed up in a building fired on dozens of Palestinian police officers who came to arrest him. A 10-minute gunbattle ensued, with officers crouching behind buildings and inside houses, before police stormed the militant’s hiding place and arrested him. No one was injured.
Throughout the day another nine militants were arrested without incident, said Jenin Police Chief Majid Howari. But the man believed to have lead the attack, Said Amin – a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a militant group linked to Abbas’ ruling Fatah movement – remained at large.
“I would like to assure the people of the town that those involved will be punished and the killers must be killed,” Howari said.
Zakariye Zubeydi, the local Al Aqsa leader, said his movement was not involved in the attacks.
Later today, Zubeydi went to the town hall to offer his assistance in capturing the rest of the gunmen.
Zubeydi is the best-known of the local gang leaders who have taken control of West Bank streets and refugee camps during four years of Palestinian-Israeli violence. In March, Zubeydi stared down Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, who had ordered his arrest during a visit to Jenin but quickly relented.
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