• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Hamas Activists Killed in Israeli Raid

Posted on: Thursday, 26 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

Israeli soldiers killed three Hamas activists and destroyed a house in a village south of Gaza City early Friday, Palestinians said, as Palestinian factions worked to wrap up details of a three-month halt to attacks against Israelis.

Israeli forces entered the village of Mujarkha before daybreak, apparently looking for Adnan al-Houl, a local Hamas leader, and surrounded his house. In an exchange of fire, three Hamas activists were killed, including a cousin of Adnan Al-Houl, who was not at home at the time. During the raid, soldiers destroyed the house.

Palestinians said the Israeli military was holding the bodies of two of the dead and had turned over the body of the third.

Israeli military sources would say only that an operation was in progress in the area, and one Israeli soldier was slightly wounded.

Israeli forces have tried several times to kill or capture al-Houl, killing his son in a previous raid, Palestinians said.

The Israeli raid began around 4:30 a.m., and the echoes of gunfire could be heard in nearby Gaza City.

The Israeli operation came as Palestinian groups were working on a cease-fire declaration after agreeing to a temporary halt to attacks.

On Thursday, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said it would be announced within hours, but officials from two militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said additional work needed to be done.

Islamic Jihad official Mohammed al-Hindi told The Associated Press late Thursday that his group had completed its internal discussions about the cease-fire and would begin talks with other groups to coordinate their positions.

A Hamas leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the same.

The agreement for a three-month truce was worked out between Marwan Barghouti, West Bank leader of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, and heads of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Damascus. Barghouti is in an Israeli prison, held while on trial for alleged complicity in Palestinian attacks that killed 26 Israelis.

Some officials expected the formal announcement to be made before the arrival Saturday evening of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, but al-Hindi said the Palestinians would work according to their own needs. "Every day there is an American visit to the region," he told The Associated Press. "Every day there is American political efforts in the region."

On Thursday, alongside the efforts to finalize the truce, violence continued.

Israeli troops intercepted four Palestinians carrying two backpacks stuffed with explosives, killing two in a clash and capturing the others.

Earlier, a Palestinian teenager fatally shot an Israeli phone company technician near the West Bank before he was seriously wounded by a security guard and captured. A militia linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement claimed responsibility.

Palestinians also fired several mortar shells and homemade rockets at a Jewish settlement in Gaza and an Israeli community bordering the strip. In the West Bank, Israel tore down the house of a Hamas militant who allegedly recruited suicide bombers.

Late Thursday, an Israeli motorist was seriously wounded by Palestinian gunfire near Bethlehem in the West Bank, the military said.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and a militia linked to Fatah have carried out scores of bombing and shooting attacks against Israelis, killing hundreds of people on buses and public places.

A truce could help end 33 months of violence, a necessary prelude to a U.S.-backed peace plan aimed at establishing a Palestinian state by 2005.

While Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has not commented on the emerging deal directly, he said Thursday that Israel's military might has taught the Palestinians that violence doesn't pay.

"Today, the Palestinians have begun to understand that their interest compels them to stop terror," Sharon said Thursday during a graduating ceremony for air force pilots. He said the "long arm of the Israeli defense forces can hit terrorists anywhere, anytime."

Despite the latest violence, Palestinian leaders said the truce first reported by The Associated Press on Wednesday was on track.

Interviewed on Abu Dhabi TV, Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan Khatib said, "There is a serious willingness for all the Palestinian factions ... to give a chance to the ongoing efforts, if Israel is ready to put an end to its flagrant aggression, like assassinations, invasions, destruction and siege."

Negotiators said the truce would halt attacks by the three groups for three months and would apply to the West Bank and Gaza as well as Israel, a key Israeli demand. In exchange they demanded an end to killings of militants and military strikes, and the release of prisoners; however, these were not made conditions for beginning the truce.

Israel has said it cannot promise to end all military operations as long as Palestinian security forces don't act against armed groups. It wants the groups disarmed as required by the "road map" peace plan.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has ruled out using force against the groups for fear of triggering a civil war.

A senior Hamas envoy was en route from Damascus to Cairo on Thursday to deliver the Barghouti document to Egypt, according to a Palestinian source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Palestinian legislator Kadoura Fares, who first announced agreement had been reached on Wednesday, said that if there was quiet during the three months, the truce could be extended.

More News in this Category