A Palestinian likely involved in a deadly ambush on a bus carrying Jewish settlers in the West Bank was killed in a gun battle with pursuing Israeli troops early on Wednesday, Israeli military sources said.
An Israeli officer was killed and three soldiers wounded in the fierce exchange of fire in the Kana valley near the settlement of Emmanuel, where Palestinians ambushed the bus Tuesday afternoon. Seven Jewish settlers were killed in that ambush.
The gun battle, which broke out at 5:30 A.M. (2:30 GMT), ended about two and a half hours later. Israel Radio reported that at least one Palestinian succeeded in fleeing the scene.
At least four Palestinian groups, Hamas, Fatah, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility for the bus attack. But Israeli military sources ascribed the attack to a Hamas group lead by local commander Nasr a-Sira.
Meanwhile, Israel called off a high-level meeting with Palestinians scheduled for Wednesday, after Tuesday’s bus attack. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said that he canceled the meeting with senior Palestinian officials because of the attack. He added the Palestinians are harming themselves. "Instead of a government of the majority, there is a government of the rifle."
Peres convened Israel's negotiating team for talks with the Palestinians for the first time on Tuesday, to review a plan to ease conditions for the Palestinians in the territories.
Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is scheduled to meet with Peres, Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and Finance Minister Silvan Shalom on Wednesday to discuss Israeli policy in anticipation of talks scheduled next week with the Palestinians. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
