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The victims of Thursday's shooting attack in Tekoa arrive at the hospital. (Flash 90)
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| By israelinsider staff September 20, 2001 |
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The declared cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians suffered another blow this morning after a fatal shooting attack near Bethlehem. Sarit Amrani, 26, of Nokdim was killed and her husband, Shai, was seriously wounded by shots from a passing Palestinian truck near Tekoa. The family's three children, sitting in the back seat of their car, were unhurt.
Last night, two Israelis were wounded, one seriously, by a charge that exploded by the perimeter fence of Oranit, near the Green Line. The two were patrolling the settlement in their jeep when the blast occurred. Three mortars landed near an IDF patrol in the Gaza Strip overnight. Earlier, Palestinians opened fire on the Jewish enclave of Hebron from the Abu Sneneh hills. IDF forces returned fire, including tank shelling, reportedly killing one Palestinian and injuring five others. The violence shattered what the IDF described as a "quite quiet" day.
Ha'aretz reported that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon telephoned U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell today to tell him that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was not living up to his cease-fire declaration made Monday and repeated on Tuesday. He made the call before the fatal shooting in Tekoa. Yesterday Sharon had called Powell and told him that the first day of the cease-fire had passed with relatively few incidents. Powell said that he was pressuring Arafat to enforce the truce.
Islamic Jihad and Hamas reject truce
The Islamic Jihad and Hamas rejected the truce between Israel and the Palestinians and vowed to continue attacks. Abdel Aziz Rantissi, a senior Hamas official, said Wednesday that his organization would continue attacking Israel against Israel "as long as the occupation continued."
Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin told Reuters yesterday: "Enough of deception and tricks - occupation exists on the [Palestinian] land and as long as occupation exists there will be no talk of a cease-fire." Yassin said, "I reiterate for the whole world that any agreement that does not serve the peace and security of the Palestinian people will remain fragile."
Yassin clarified that was speaking of a continuation of attacks inside Israel. "What would commit me to a cease-fire is the end of the occupation, and as long as there is no end to it, resistance against the occupation will continue," he said, adding that the options included "all kinds of resistance."
Abdallah Shami, a leading Islamic Jihad official in Gaza, said that his group would stop attacking Israeli civilians if the IDF stopped attacking Palestinian civilians, but added that attacks upon soldiers and settlements would continue in any event.
In statement issued by the group Tuesday, Islamic Jihad rejected "the so-called cease-fire, which comes at a time when the Zionist enemy continues its aggression against our defenseless Palestinian people."
Cease-fire declarations lead to IDF troop withdrawals
A late Sunday night mission of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's son Omri and Foreign Ministry director-general Avi Gil set the stage for Arafat's declaration of a cease-fire at a meeting Tuesday afternoon with foreign ministers in Gaza, and his urging in Arabic of Palestinian forces to show restraint if they come under Israeli fire.
Shortly thereafter, Sharon issued an order to the IDF to discontinued initiated actions and to withdraw from Palestinian-controlled territory (Area A) around Jenin and Jericho, and to show maximal restraint if they were subjected to Palestinian fire.
The fast-moving developments appeared to have been choreographed in the late night Gaza meeting, with American pressure on both sides to put an end to the violence. Secretary of State Colin Powell commented that the agreement was "encouraging" and various EU officials praised the developments.
"If Arafat really wants to calm the area, we want to help, to give Arafat a chance," said Defense Ministry spokesman Yarden Vatikai, adding that Israel was still doubtful about his intentions.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said that the instructions to the IDF is meant to test if the Palestinians will comply with the demand for a 48-hour cease-fire that Sharon has required as a condition for a meeting with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
Peres, in a statement, said he was gratified and encouraged by Arafat's remarks. "We have to welcome the new tone and hope it continues." He told CNN: "The world is facing an unbelievable danger and we have to put aside secondary skirmishes."
Even after the cease-fire declaration and the Israeli troop withdrawal, skirmishes continued in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At times the clashes were intense, although reportedly somewhat less so overall than in preceding days. There was heavy firing on IDF positions from Palestinian gunmen in Hebron. Exchanges of fire were reported at the Ayosh junction in Ramallah, Migdal Oz, and the Nablus area. Some 30 grenades were thrown at the Tarmit base in Gaza near Rafah on the Egyptian border.
The Palestine Red Crescent said one Palestinian was killed and a second was injured at a village near Jenin. Israel Radio quoted the IDF as saying the men were apparently trying to plant an explosive device. The IDF said the men approached a checkpoint on a tractor and refused to stop even after IDF troops fired warning shots.
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