Israel did not wait long to retaliate for the killing Wednesday of
Israeli tourism minister and former army general Rehavam Zeevi. Just hours after the Palestinians announced they would not hand over to Israeli authorities the men that the Israelis claimed were responsible for Zeevi’s assassination in Jerusalem, a powerful explosion killed Tanzim activist Atef Abayat in his car near Bethlehem. Two other Fatah members who were with Abayat in his
car were also killed in the blast, Palestinian sources said.
Abayat was the leader of Fatah’s Tanzim militia in the West Bank city
of Bethlehem. He had been on Israel’s wanted list for a long time, as the Israelis held him responsible for several shooting attacks against Israeli civilians. Following repeated Israeli requests, Abayat was arrested several times by the Palestinian security forces, but always promptly released.
Although Abayat was aware of the danger to his life, in a recent
interview he indicated this would not stop his activities.
The Abayat family, Bedouins from the Bethlehem area, have had the
dubious distinction of twice heralding an escalation in the Al Aqsa intifadah. A year ago, it was Hussein Abayat, a relative of Atef, who was the first Palestinian leader to be assassinated by Israel when helicopter gunships fired a missile at his car. Israel’s assassination policy was stopped in the wake of the recent cease-fire, but the killings of Hamas activists earlier this week and Atef Abayat now mark a resumption of this bloody policy.
Palestinian retaliation for Abayat’s death came quickly. Less than an
hour after the explosion that killed Abayat, the first shoots were fired at the settlement of Gilo nearby Jerusalem. Palestinian firing at Gilo had in past months led to one of the Israeli Army’s worst incursions into Palestinian territory, when Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers stormed into the neighboring Palestinian town Beit Jallah. The renewal of shooting in the area seems certain to escalate into further armed confrontations between the Israelis and Palestinians in the days to come.
