Five Palestinians were killed Monday morning when their car
exploded in Gaza and went up in flames. Israel did not
acknowledge responsibility and there remains the possibility
that they died in a "work accident" preparing a bomb. In some
press reports they were called "activists" but it was
universally reported that all had been involved in violence
against Israeli soldiers and civilians, and all were
identified as members of terrorist organizations including
the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP),
Hamas and Fatah. The PA said that "one or two" were members
of one of its security forces.
In addition to this bomb, two explosive devices were
discovered and defused by IDF sappers near Tulkarm in the
West Bank; a third device was neutralized near Rafah in the
Strip.
In shooting, an Israeli Arab from Umm el-Fahm, a researcher
for the B'Tselem human rights group, was moderately to
seriously injured in a roadside shooting attack in the Jenin
area. He was shot from a Palestinian vehicle at the side of
the road that apparently mistook him for a Jew since his car
had Israeli license plates.
An IDF soldier was lightly injured by gunfire near the Neveh
Dekalim settlement in Gush Katif. Shooting incidents without
Israeli casualties occurred yesterday in Tulkarm, Dolev (west
of Ramallah), along the Tunnel Road in the Bethlehem area, in
the south of Hebron, at Gadid and Ganei Tal in the Katif
Bloc, and in Rafah. A second soldier was lightly injured
after being hit in the head by a rock in Ramallah.
An Egged bus came under gunfire Monday evening near Issawiye
in East Jerusalem. The No. 174 bus was traveling along the
Jerusalem-Ma'aleh Adumim road and was empty at the time of
the incident.
In the rocket attack, Israeli helicopters destroyed a
suspected mortar shell factory. Palestinians said that the
factories damaged included a large joinery, a large sewing
workshop and a metal-painting plant.
Even though Israel did not admit to killing the terrorists,
the incident raised the issue of its ongoing targeting of
terrorists. A senior Israeli defense official said Israel
never carried out revenge killings but rather targeted those
who constituted "ticking bombs" and would have killed men,
women, and children.
On several occasions, officials explained that the venue of
the killings were not chosen by the political circumstances
or previous terrorist incidents, but were simply determined
by operational considerations: terrorists are killed when
they are about to terrorize.
Critics such as UN envoy to the Middle East Terje Roed-Larsen
say that extrajudicial killings are a "grave violation" of
Israel's obligations under international law. However the
IDF's attorneys say that Israel is careful to comply with all
applicable requirements of international law in each case.
Prime Minister Sharon, speaking to the Likud's Knesset
faction before he left for the US, said that the PA
representatives he met last week had asked him not to respond
to attacks for 10 days in order for them to take action
themselves.
"The answer was absolutely negative," Sharon was quoted as
telling the faction. Sharon told the faction that security
meetings between the two sides will continue, although he
said they have not yet yielded any results.
"The key is increasing the pressure on Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat," Sharon said.
In a related matter, PA Chairman Yasser Arafat published an
op-ed piece in the Sunday edition of the New York
Times in which he condemned "attacks carried out by
terrorist groups against Israeli civilians." He wrote that
the groups (which he did not mention by name) "are terrorist
organizations, and I am determined to put an end to their
activities." Arafat did not spell out what specifically he
intends to do.
Hamas, which is one of the terrorist organizations clearly
intended, rejected Arafat's article. Hamas said: "We see the
way out of this situation cannot be dealt with in this way or
in a series of suspicious meetings. But it can be dealt with
by more steadfastness, resistance, and by escalating the
intifadah."
On the whole, said Hamas, "We reject what was mentioned in
this article."
Iran is a continuing problem that was discussed at the Likud
meeting. According to Sharon, weapons are being smuggled from
Iran via Jordan, which he said is trying to stop the
smuggling from taking place.
On Monday Iran also warned Israel that it should not attack
its nuclear facilities, saying it would retaliate in ways
"unimaginable." The Defense Minister said he was not
referring to a nuclear response.
Senior IDF officers are also concerned over the foothold that
Iran appears to be making in the PA. This was seen in the
Iranian connection in the Karine A arms-smuggling
ship.
US President George W. Bush has in the past week issued a
series of warnings to Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea,
accusing them of being an "axis of evil."
