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Palestinians Kill Three at Army Outpost

Posted on: Thursday, 23 September 2004, 06:00 CDT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Two armed Palestinians infiltrated a fog-shrouded Israeli army outpost in a Gaza Strip settlement early Thursday, killing at least three Israelis in a fierce gunbattle before being shot dead, Israeli media reported.

Two other Israelis were wounded, one critically, the Web site of the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported. The army refused to confirm the report of dead.

The Gaza attack came a day after a 19-year-old female Palestinian suicide bomber killed two paramilitary police officers in Jerusalem, the first such attack in the city since February.

In the Morag settlement in southern Gaza, the army said soldiers were searching for a third militant who may have fled the area.

A caller to The Associated Press in Gaza City said the operation was a joint effort of the Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committee - an umbrella group of Palestinian factions - and the Ahmed Abu El-Rish Brigades, a group linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.

The caller said the groups had sent three militants into the Morag settlement and the "operation is still under way." He said a statement would be released.

The attack comes as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faces mounting opposition to his plan to withdraw from all Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements in September 2005. Morag is one of the first settlements slated to be evacuated.

In an interview with Israeli television on Wednesday, Sharon said the pullout would begin in the summer of 2005, would take about 12 weeks to complete.

The "disengagement plan" calls for the evacuation of some 8,500 Gaza settlers who live among 1.5 million Palestinians, and another 500 Israelis living in the northern West Bank.

Since Sharon announced his withdrawal plan in December, militants have increased attacks as the groups vie for leadership positions and try to make the pullout look like a Palestinian victory. Israel, meanwhile, has come down harder on Palestinians in Gaza to make sure it doesn't appear that the army is fleeing the area.

Israel's Army Radio reported that heavy fog in the area of the southern Gaza strip settlement of Morag, home to 36 families, made it possible for the militants to reach and enter the outpost.

"Unfortunately, we have suffered a heavy loss," said Nissim Bracha, a Morag resident said.

It took 45 minutes from the moment the first Palestinian shot was fired at 6:45 a.m. for the soldiers to kill the militants and evacuate the casualties, Bracha said.

On Wednesday, 19-year-old Zainab Abu Salem from the Askar refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus, circumvented several Israeli checkpoints, made her way to Jerusalem and blew up as two paramilitary policemen prevented her from reaching a crowded bus stop.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group tied to Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

In an interview with Israel Radio, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Al Aqsa is a "part of Fatah," and expressed a desire to fold them into the movement's political wing. However, Qureia said it would be difficult to bring the armed group into the fold so long as Israel continues to hunt down and kill Al Aqsa members.

Early Thursday, troops backed by armored bulldozers entered the Askar refugee camp and demolished the home of the bomber's family. Israel often destroys the homes of bombers in an attempt to prevent Palestinians from attacking Israel.

The bombing at the busy Jerusalem intersection in the French Hill neighborhood destroyed a police post, leaving shards of glass scattered in the road as the smell of burning rubber wafted in the air.

Police said the two border guards spotted the young woman carrying a bag and asked her to open it. She refused, and then set off the explosives inside, estimated at 7 to 11 pounds. Both men were killed.

The bombing came two days before the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, the fast of Yom Kippur, and at a time of heightened police presence throughout the country. Israel imposed a closure on the West Bank last week at the start of the Jewish New Year's holiday, banning Palestinians from entering the country.

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