Palestinian gunmen opened fire on mobile homes in a West Bank settlement and killed three Israelis early Saturday, the army said.
Two Palestinian gunmen attacked the Karmei Tsur settlement north of Hebron, the Israeli army said. Two Israelis and one of the attackers were killed and four Israelis were wounded, two seriously. Another Israeli soldier sustained serious injuries and died later of his wounds in hospital.
The second gunman escaped, apparently to the nearby Palestinian town of Halhoul. Israeli troops entered Halhoul, imposed a curfew, and began a house-to-house search for the Palestinian.
"Once again we are witnessing an act of terrorism being launched from the Palestinian territories, as a result of the Palestinian Authority's refusal to take action against terrorism," the military said in a statement.
The Israeli Magen David Adom rescue service initially said three Israelis were killed, but the army said one of the bodies found at the scene was that of a gunman killed by settlement security guards.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility and no comment Saturday from the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites), which Israel has held responsible for continuing attacks.
"Once again we are witnessing an act of terrorism being launched from the Palestinian territories, as a result of the Palestinian Authority's refusal to take action against terrorism," the military said in a statement.
Yasser Arafat's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said, "the Israelis should blame themselves, they failed at the political level and at the security level as well."
"They have to understand that they should live peacefully with the Palestinian people with its elected leadership, otherwise their security and our security will be in danger," he said.
Gaza Strip
Four Palestinians were killed late Friday night while trying to carry out attacks in the Gaza Strip. One Palestinian was trying to infiltrate the Dugit settlement and three others were killed when a bomb they were trying to plant blew up.
Two Palestinians tried to infiltrate the Dugit settlement in the north of the Gaza Strip late Friday night, by swimming to a nearby beach. Israeli troops killed one of the Palestinians, who was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle and grenades, according to Israeli media reports. The second escaped.
Three Palestinians were killed close to the fence surrounding the Gaza Strip, near Rafah, when a bomb they tried to plant near the fence blew up. One of them was an Palestinian preventive security officer, Israel Radio reported.
Loudspeakers in Rafah announced three "martyrs" from the Izz al-Din Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas , had died in a clash with Israeli troops after planting an explosive device at Sufa. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
