One Israeli settler was killed and two others were moderately wounded in a shooting attack just before 8 P.M. (GMT1800) Friday evening near the West Bank city of Hebron.
An Israeli military source said two armed Palestinians had approached a solitary home near the Givat Harsina settlement. "Apparently they knocked on the door and when the father of the house opened it they shot at him and he was killed," the source said.
Someone inside the house shot back and killed one of the Palestinians, it said. The other escaped.
Hamas claimed the attack, saying it was carried out to avenge the demolition of homes, the closure on the territories and Israel's policy of assasinations. It also said that Hamas would continue attacks against the Israeli occupation.
Early in the day, Hamas rejected calls to stop attacks against Israeli targets. "Hamas officially informed Egypt of its final answer: our position is against ending the resistance and abiding by a one-year truce," Abdelaziz Rantissi told AFP, stressing that "operations inside Israel would continue."
"It has been decided that the inter-Palestinian dialogue would resume in Cairo on January 22 and we will attend," he added. "We believe the talks will lead to positive results because this time all Palestinian factions have been invited by Egypt to attend and will reaffirm the right of our people to resist," said the Hamas official. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
