Palestinian Kills Israeli in West Bank
NABLUS, West Bank – A Palestinian gunman broke into an Israeli settlement early Saturday, killing an Israeli man and wounding his 12-year-old daughter in their home, the army said.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, meanwhile, brushed aside Israeli threats to kill him. “For me, I don’t care,” he said in halting English. “I care only for my people.”
The Lebanese TV station Al Manar reported that Hamas claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack on the Avnei Hefetz settlement near the Palestinian town of Tulkarem.
Palestinian gunmen repeatedly have targeted isolated settlements, particularly during the Jewish Sabbath when more residents are at home.
The Israeli military said that since the outbreak of fighting in September 2000, 25 settlements have been attacked during the Sabbath and holidays, with 41 Israelis killed and more than 60 hurt.
In Saturday’s attack, the gunman broke into a home and opened fire, slightly injuring a 12-year-old girl, the army said. When the girl’s father emerged, armed with a pistol, the attacker shot him to death. Troops searching the settlement found the gunman and killed him, the army said.
The violence came after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon revealed the scope of a plan to withdraw from Palestinian areas, saying Israel will pull out from all of Gaza and evict several hundred Jewish settlers from the West Bank enclaves of Ganim, Sanur, Homesh and Kadim within a year.
Also Saturday, the Israeli military arrested 23 wanted Palestinians in an arrest raid in the West Bank city of Nablus. Witnesses said more than 70 jeeps entered the city before dawn and soldiers ordered people out of homes during the raid.
Sharon, asked in interviews published Friday whether Israel would try to kill some Palestinian leader, said Arafat and Lebanese guerrilla chief Hassan Nasrallah were not immune. It was not immediately clear if Sharon’s remarks meant he would no longer honor assurances to U.S. officials that Israel would not harm Arafat.
Arafat responded in remarks to reporters at his West Bank headquarters in the town of the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he has been confined to his headquarters for more than two years.
Arafat’s aides said Friday they were taking new Israeli threats against the Palestinian leader’s life seriously. Last month, Israel assassinated Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin, a line few had expected Israel to cross.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told reporters in Washington, “Our position on such questions – the exile or assassination of Yasser Arafat – is very well known. We are opposed and we have made that very clear to the government of Israel.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry also criticized Sharon’s statement, saying it considers the Israeli threats unacceptable.
“Russia has repeatedly spoken against the practice of extrajudicial executions, which not only violate the norms of international law but also run counter to efforts to break the meaningless cycle of violence,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said.
Sharon has repeatedly accused Arafat of involvement in attacks on Israelis, saying he encourages and finances militants. In September, Israel’s Cabinet decided that Arafat should be “removed” – an intentionally vague statement that could mean he would be expelled or killed.
In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian man was killed Friday evening near the border fence with Israel, the army said. An army patrol spotted three suspicious figures near the fence and opened fire, killing one, the military said. Palestinian police confirmed the incident and said soldiers fired tank shells at the group. A Palestinian also was wounded.
Palestinian police said a second Palestinian was killed by Israeli army fire in Gaza late Friday, but the army said it had no such report.
Israeli riot police also stormed a disputed holy site in Jerusalem’s walled Old City on Friday, firing plastic bullets, stun grenades and canisters of tear gas to break up crowds of youths hurling stones and shoes at them. Thousands of Muslim worshippers barricaded themselves in two mosques in the elevated compound for two hours before police let them leave.
The clash was the most violent at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound since deadly riots there in September 2000 led to the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has lasted 3 1/2 years.
The quick and overwhelming police response at the Jerusalem holy site – along with the threats against Arafat – appeared to be part of an overall message that an Israeli pullback from Palestinian areas would not mean surrender.
Critics say the prime minister is using the plan to try to deflect any possibility that he might be brought to trial in a bribery scandal. Sharon, they say, is trying to create an atmosphere of national crisis in which it becomes increasingly difficult for an indictment.
Sharon commented on the bribery allegations in the interviews, saying “My hands are clean.” Israel’s chief prosecutor has recommended he be indicted, but a final decision is up to the attorney general, who is expected to rule by the end of May.