Israeli Mother, Children The Latest Victims Of Palestinian Terror

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 6/20/02 | Patrick Goodenough

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - Palestinian gunmen infiltrated a Jewish community and took a family hostage in an attack late Thursday which ended in the deaths of five people, including a mother and three of her children.

Reports from Jerusalem say two other children of the same family were wounded, one of them seriously. Two security force members were among another six people injured in the assault in Itamar, a small settlement near the Palestinian Authority-controlled town of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

It was the third terrorist attack against Israelis in three days. Suicide bombings in Jerusalem on Tuesday and Wednesday cost the lives of 26 people, with more than 100 more injured.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon canceled an evening engagement and held consultations in Tel Aviv after receiving word of the Itamar attack. His spokesman, Raanan Gissin, called the shooting "horrendous" and said a response would be coming.

Israel has vowed in recent days to seize control of areas of the PA self-rule territory in response for every terrorist attack on its citizens.

A spate of attacks in late March which resulted in 127 deaths prompted Sharon to send forces into PA areas for an unprecedented assault which he said was aimed at rooting out terrorists.

A period of relative quiet followed the withdrawal of the troops at the end of Operation Defensive Shield, until the latest resurgence in the violence.

According to eyewitnesses and neighbors quoted by Israeli media, two Palestinians armed with assault rifles and hand grenades entered a house in Itamar and took its occupants hostage at around 9.30 p.m. local time.

In a subsequent exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers, the Palestinians were shot and killed, according to Israel Television.

A gas tank was reportedly hit in the firefight, setting the house on fire.

One neighbor said the family in the house had seven children. Their father was away at the time of the attack.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine called a wire agency to claim responsibility for Thursday's assault, which it said was in response to the arrest of one of its leaders, and Israel's plan to build a security wall along part of the "green line" separating its populous coastal strip with the West Bank.

An Israeli government spokesman, Daniel Seaman, was quoted earlier as warning that Israel was close to the point where it would "no longer be able to restrain itself" and would "unleash the full wrath of the Israeli people" on Palestinian terrorists.

Before the latest incident, PA Chairman Yasser Arafat issued a statement in which he said neither Palestinian nor Israeli civilians should be targeted in attacks.

But he also accused Israel of using terrorist as a "pretext" to "reoccupy our land and expel our people."

Itamar has been the scene of previous fatal attacks, including one just 22 days ago in which a Palestinian shot dead three teenagers before being killed.

The small, unfenced village of red-roofed houses is home to around 60 religious Jewish families.

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[Libertarianize the GOP]

I am still trying to figure out how the calculated five people died. A mother and three children equals four and two sub-human terrorists dead still only leaves four people dead.

[Pyro7480]

Enough is enough!! I really hope there comes a breaking point where the Israelis stop doing things half-a$$ed and stop these bastards once and for all!

[sofaman]

A security guard died too. Poor bugger.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

Where did you find that info all that I read was security personal wounded?

[sofaman]

I've been surfing around like a luny....thinking

Possibly Ha'aretz or Jerusalem Post...will try to find it

[sofaman]

IDF expands West Bank operations after five killed in Itamar

By Amos Harel, Amira Hass (Gaza), and Haim Shadmi, Ha'aretz Correspondents and gencies




IDF troops entered the Palestinian town of Nablus early Friday morning in expanding operations in the West Bank following the deaths of more than 30 Israelis in terror attacks over the last three days.

Palestinian witnesses reported about 50 Israeli tanks entered Nablus, a short distance from the West Bank settlement of Itamar where Palestinian gunmen killed five people after infiltrating a home late Thursday night.

Killed in the attack were Rachel Shabo; three of her children, Neria, 15; Svika, 12; and Avishai, 5; and Yosef Tuwito, a security officer at the settlement.

An IIDF paramilitary force stormed the house, killing one infiltrator, the army said. Soldiers were conducting searches in the area after witnesses reported seeing a second gunman.

It was unclear who was behind the attack. Israel Radio reported that the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed the attack, but earlier the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine took responsibility.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon broke off a public engagement and called high-level consultations. Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin said, "This is a horrendous attack, and there always has to be a response for such things."

The prime minister will convene the security cabinet Friday afternoon to discuss how Israel should respond to the recent waves of attacks.

In Jenin, Palestinians security officials said Israeli troops blew up an empty building early Friday, causing a nearby building to collapse, killing a 14-year-old Palestinian and wounding seven others. The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incident, but said its forces had blown up a bomb factory found in the town during the night.

In Nablus, witnesses said about 50 tanks and a number of armored bulldozers entered the outskirts of the city from four directions. Israeli tanks fired sporadic bursts of machine-gun fire but there was no apparent resistance, and soldiers used loudspeakers to declare a curfew, witnesses said.

The Israeli army would not immediately comment.

Earlier Thursday, Israeli forces rounded up Palestinians for questioning in Jenin, Qalqiliya, Bethlehem and Beitunia, a suburb of Ramallah, Palestinians and the military said. Israeli forces tightly encircled Tulkarem, as Israel Radio broadcast alerts about suicide bombers about to attack Israel.

After a two-day sweep, Israeli forces pulled out of Qalqiliya, which is on the line between Israel and the West Bank at Israel's narrowest point, just 15 kilometers across. Attention shifted to Tul Karm, also on the unmarked line 15 kilometers to the north, where police and army reinforcements patrolled, looking for a bomber.

Army issues limited number of emergency call-ups to reservists
The IDF began a limited call-up of reservists Thursday as it expanded its operations in the West Bank in response to the deteriorating security situation.

So far, the call-up has been restricted to a few units comprising a few thousand reservists. Orders were due to be mailed out Thursday night.

However, additional reserve units have been put on alert and their commanders have been warned they might be called up in the coming days.

The IDF also canceled most officer training courses for the regular army and transferred several units to the territories, where they will participate in operations inside Palestinian cities.

Defense sources said that if the terror attacks continue, there will be no choice but to call up additional reservists. Over the long term, they said, the current call-ups are far from sufficient for the planned tasks, which include entering several Palestinian towns and perhaps remaining there for extended periods.

[sofaman]

Yup....Ha'aretz

[Libertarianize the GOP]

Thanks although I am not sure that is the way this story calculted the total.

[sofaman]

women and children...these people are animals.

What kind of people can do this and rejoice at this kind of barbarism?

[Libertarianize the GOP]

I need to go to bed I can't spell or type or proof read it seems.

[sofaman]

Killed in the attack were Rachel Shabo; three of her children, Neria, 15; Svika, 12; and Avishai, 5; and Yosef Tuwito, a security officer at the settlement.

5

IDF & Israeli press do not include the homicide bombers in their totals.

[Bobby777]

ah, the ongoing work of Yasser Arafat and Co. ... while the fools scream "Islam is peace!" innocent Israelis are fed to the killing machine of the terrorist Arab nations ... careful what tiger ye continue to kick, O Yasser, for the bear of Israel may devour thee and all your ilk ...

[RichardsSweetRose]

I like your way of doing math!

[Stultis]

Before the latest incident, PA Chairman Yasser Arafat issued a statement in which he said neither Palestinian nor Israeli civilians should be targeted in attacks.

Left unsaid, but understood by the Pallies... Although a Palestinian is a civilian where ever he or she may be, an Israeli, even if a woman or a child, is NOT considered a civilian if they are in the West Bank, Gaza, or anywhere outside the '67 borders. Thus Arafat's "condemnation" did not apply to any of the three latest mass murders!

[Steve Eisenberg]

Although a Palestinian is a civilian where ever he or she may be, an Israeli, even if a woman or a child, is NOT considered a civilian if they are in the West Bank, Gaza, or anywhere outside the '67 borders.

I appreciate the sentiment. However, I see no evidence that attackers prefer to hit the settlements as opposed to Israel proper. One might wonder whether this is because the settlers are tougher and better armed. I doubt it. A substantial proportion of the Jewish population of Palestine has been going around armed since at least the, I kid you not, 1870's, and this is hardly limited to the West Bank. A large proportion of the settlement are unfenced, but the terrorists nonetheless usually prefer to attack Israel's coastal cities, or Jerusalem. This is just as true for Hamas as for the movements associated with Arafat's Fatah. These people are more angry over what happenned in 1948 than they are upset over their 1967 setback.