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Three Palestinian Militants Killed in Raid on West Bank ; Israel Threatens Invasion Over Rocket Attacks

Posted on: Friday, 23 December 2005, 15:00 CST

By ALI DARAGHMEH, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NABLUS, West Bank - Israeli troops killed three Palestinian militants during a raid Thursday in the West Bank city of Nablus, and tension increased on the Gaza-Israel border as militants and the army traded rocket and artillery fire.

With homemade rocket attacks increasingly approaching sensitive Israeli sites, including a power station and a fuel depot, an Israeli leader threatened a fierce response, including an invasion by ground troops - a step the Israelis have avoided since their pullout from Gaza in the summer.

Now that Israeli settlements have been removed from northern Gaza, militants can bring their rockets closer to the border fence.

Rocket fire from Gaza is often linked to Israeli raids in the West Bank, with Gaza militants claiming their right to retaliate.

Early Thursday, Israeli soldiers entered Nablus and opened fire on a four-story building where militants were holed up, the military said. The three were shot after they fired at the soldiers and tried to escape, it said.

Witnesses identified one of the slain men as Bashar Hanani, the Nablus leader of the small Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israel said Hanani masterminded a suicide bombing in the open-air market in Tel Aviv in November 2004 that killed three Israelis.

The two others were members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah Party.

The PFLP threatened revenge.

"Israel will pay the price for this crime," said a PFLP leader, Kaed al-Ghoul.

About 3,000 people gathered Thursday afternoon in Nablus' main square at a joint funeral for the militants. Dozens of gunmen fired in the air, and the crowd chanted, "Bashar, our friend, the response will be in Tel Aviv!"

Meanwhile, Abbas is trying to reunify his fractious Fatah before Jan. 25 parliamentary elections, in which the Islamic militant group Hamas is poised to score significant gains, possibly even an overall victory, in its first run for parliament. Hamas opposes the existence of Israel and has killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks.

Source: Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.

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