In an apparent response to the two recent bus bombings in
Jerusalem, the IDF has increased the pressure on the terror
groups, including the targeted killing of a senior Islamic
Jihad terrorist and two terrorist companions. The attack came
almost exactly a week after a suicide bomber murdered eight
people on a bus in Jerusalem. More recently another
Palestinian was killed during an army raid in the West Bank
village of Yatta outside Hebron. A senior Palestinian
politician was murdered in Gaza, but that was apparently done
by other Palestinians in a local power struggle.
Three Islamic Jihad operatives were killed in an Israeli air
attack in the northern end of Gaza City. According to
unconfirmed Palestinian reports, ten people were wounded in
the strike.
The strike occurred Saturday night at 7:00 P.M. in Gaza
City's Sheikh-Radwan neighborhood. According to Palestinian
sources, two missiles were fired at a car in which three
members of Islamic Jihad's military Al-Quds Brigades were
traveling. The three were identified as Mahmoud Juda, 23,
from the Jabalya refugee camp, who was a senior figure in the
Al-Quds Brigades, and two cousins, Aiyman Dahduh, 42, and
Amin Dahduh, 32, both from Gaza City. The two cousins were
also identified as members of the Al-Quds Brigades.
The IDF Spokesman issued a statement confirming that the "IAF
attacked a car in which senior Islamic Jihad operatives, who
were responsible for a number of murderous attacks, were
traveling." Juda was said to be responsible for several
recent attacks in the area.
Israeli leaders reportedly decided to step up assassinations
of Hamas and Islamic Jihad men on the Gaza Strip. One reason
cited was the recent suicide bombings in Jerusalem. Senior
officials also said that it is important to weaken the Gaza
terror organizations before the planned withdrawal. If the
groups are given a serious blow, they will not be so sure
they won a victory in Israel's withdrawal, and also they will
find it harder to take over from Israel.
Israel Defense Forces troops killed a Palestinian man on
Tuesday morning in Yatta during a siege on a wanted
militant's home. Israeli military sources said the man, a
former Palestinian policeman, was killed after he tried to
flee and ignored orders to stop, adding that no weapons were
found on him.
The army said five suspected militants were arrested
elsewhere in the West Bank between Monday night and Tuesday
morning.
Two armed Palestinian terror suspects, members of Fatah's
military wing, were killed Sunday by Israel Defense Forces
troops at the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. IDF paratroopers
arrived Sunday morning at the Balata camp in response to
intelligence information about Tanzim operatives planning to
send a suicide striker to attack within Israel. The soldiers,
riding in an armored jeep, spotted two armed Palestinians in
an area close to the camp's entrance. Soldiers opened fire
and killed one of the men, and the other was wounded. The
dead man was identified as Mohammed Avis, one of the heads of
Fatah's military group in the camp.
In the afternoon, paratroopers shot an armed Palestinian, who
later died of his wounds. He was identified as Ayid Abu
Shalal, 18, who took part in an attack against ultra-Orthodox
Jews at Joseph's Tomb last January. A second Palestinian who
took part in the attack at Joseph's Tomb has yet to be
apprehended.
Also on Tuesday morning, Palestinian gunmen shot and killed
Khalil al-Zaben, 59, a well-known adviser to Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in Gaza City. He was hit by
12 bullets has he left his office in the Sabra
neighborhood.
Al-Zaben was the best-known Palestinian to be killed in what
appears to be growing internal violence and power struggles
in Gaza City. He has been close to Yasser Arafat for almost
50 years, and returned to Gaza with him about 10 years
ago.
In a recent incident at police headquarters in Gaza, rival
groups opened fire on each other after an armed man slapped
the police chief. A policeman was killed in the exchange that
followed. That conflict involved Arafat's forces and men
loyal to Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan, an Arafat rival.
Later, Arafat and Dahlan met in an attempt to stop the
violence.
On Saturday, about 15 masked, armed Palestinians barged into
the Gaza City offices of the Palestinian Broadcasting
Corporation, demanding jobs. Last Wednesday, about 20 masked
men armed with submachine guns and hand grenades raided the
Gaza City office of the Palestinian Land Authority, demanding
land deeds be transferred to their names.
On Friday, the mayor of the West Bank's largest city, Nablus,
resigned amid growing chaos and infighting between armed
militias. Mayor Ghassan Shakaa accused Arafat of not doing
enough to prevent Nablus from plummeting into lawlessness. In
November, Palestinian gunmen shot and killed Shakaa's
brother.
The planned withdrawal of Israel from Gaza has caused the
various groups in Gaza to begin jockeying for power and
position in anticipation of the Israeli move. Arafat has been
having serious difficulties asserting any authority
throughout the Palestinian areas, and will certainly be able
to do little as long as he is kept cooped up in Ramallah.
With the weakening of the PA and a planned Israeli pullout
from most of the Gaza Strip, chaos might result.
An Israeli was lightly wounded late Monday night when a
mortar shell caused heavy damage to a home in a Gush Katif
settlement. Palestinians fired three mortars at the
settlement.
Earlier Monday, the Israel Defense Forces reopened the Erez
crossing point in the Gaza Strip to Palestinians, after it
was closed last Thursday following the killing of an IDF
reserve soldier.
Thousands of workers to return to their jobs in the Israeli-
Palestinian Erez industry area. More than 200 factory owners
in the industrial zone had pressured Israeli authorities to
reopen the area.
An Israeli couple was killed on Friday night in a terrorist
shooting attack on the Lahav-Ashkelon road, along the Green
Line, in the southern Hebron Hills. The couple is survived by
a 2-year-old daughter. The attack occurred shortly before 8
P.M., east of Kibbutz Lahav. Their two year old daughter
remained at home in Livna.
Terrorists ambushed their vehicle from the side of the road,
and opened fire. Subsequent investigations established that
the terrorists approached the vehicle after it stopped, and
fired another round of bullets from point-blank range, to
ensure their victims were dead.
