Israeli troops shot and killed four Palestinians early Sunday who said were suspiciously moving toward the gravesite of a Jewish rabbi, the army said.
Palestinian witnesses said the four men — laborers in a stone factory — were killed in cold-blood while they slept. Palestinians identified the dead as Hassam Khalikeh, 20, his brother Hisham Khalikeh, 21, Ala Alaieeh, 23 and his cousin Attiyeh Alaieeh.
For its part, the Israeli army said they had warnings that four Palestinians would try to carry out an attack in the area, not far from the Palestinian village of Bani Naim, south of Hebron, and then saw the four moving toward a field.
The troops opened fire on the group and killed all four, the army said. On their bodies, which are still being searched, soldiers found a saw and wire-cutting equipment, indicating they were planning to infiltrate a Jewish settlement in the area, the army said. However, the soldiers found but no weapons.
Also Sunday, a Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli troops in the Jenin refugee camp. Security sources identified the youth as 18-year-old Abdel Karim Bassam Sadi, the son of a local leader of Islamic Jihad's military wing.
In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army reported gunbattles and Palestinians said five members of a family were wounded when soldiers fired a tank shell at their home. Palestinian security officials said Israeli bulldozers demolished a three-story building near the Gaza-Egypt border early Sunday, leaving 10 people homeless.
Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer has ordered an investigation into a botched attempt to assassinate an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades activist in the West Bank on Saturday, in which five people, including two children, were killed.
Two Apache helicopters fired three missiles at a vehicle carrying Palestinian activists, killing three people inside the car. One of the missiles killed ten-year-old Osama Daraghmeh and his nine-year-old cousin, who were playing outside their house.
"We call on the international community to stop this blodshed, this killing in cold blood, this state terrorism. We don't hear the US administration or any other state speaking out about the killing of Palestinian children," said Saeb Erakat, a senior negotiator.
Nabil Abu Rudeina, top advisor to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, called on the Middle East Quartet to break off contact with Israel. "This is the third crime in 48 hours, and a dangerous escalation," he said, adding that the Palestinian leadership intended to press for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss measures against Israel.
Erakat said the killing of four Palestinians near a Jewish settlement early Sunday was aimed at cowing the Palestinians. "This escalation is designed to scare the Palestinian people and make them surrender. This is state terrorism," he said.
"The president of the United States said he'll fight terrorism, but Washington should know they are helping the biggest act of terrorism in the world, the Israeli occupation," he said.
On his part, Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo called for an end to talks with the Israelis, saying the bloody incidents over the weekend proved they were not interested in a truce.
"After each meeting with the Israelis a new massacre happens somewhere in the Palestinian territories," Abed Rabbo said.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told children on their first day of school that Israel is "obligated to peace." "But one thing has to be known — that in order for there to be peace, one has to know how to defend peace, to protect peace, to prevent terrorist attacks," Sharon added.
In another development, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for Saturday attack at the settlement of Har Bracha, near Nablus. Two Israelis were wounded and the attacker was shot dead. It was the first Palestinian attack to bring Israeli civlian casualties since an Aug. 4 suicide bombing killed nine. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
