 |
 |
 |
|
|
A tank maneuvers outside of Nahal Oz on Wednesday, April 9 (Flash90)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Israel Insider staff April 9, 2008 |
|
| |
 Bookmark to del.icio.us |
| |
As many as four Palestinians infiltrated the fuel terminal at the Nahal Oz crossing between Israel and Gaza, killing two Israeli civilians working there. The infiltration was preceded and followed by mortar fire on the area in what was believed to be an attempt to carry out a kidnapping. Several Palestinians were killed in Israeli reprisals following the attack.
Oleg Lipson, 37 and Lev Cherniak, 53, residents of Beersheba, worked at the terminal, which supplies Gaza with most of its fuel.
Palestinian fuel coordinators actually alerted Israelis manning the terminal that Palestinian terrorists had infiltrated Israel prior to the attack that left two Israeli civilians dead, Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council chief security officer Yoav Peled said Wednesday.
"It is in the Palestinians' interest that fuel continue to be transferred [from Israel] into the Gaza Strip, so they gave the Israeli side, the guys that worked there, information about the infiltration, and warned them," Peled said.
Peled said that the drivers of the fuel trucks that were at the terminal at the time of the attack managed to flee unharmed, but two Israeli employees were murdered while attempting to escape. They were shot at very close range while one of them was in a truck and the other was standing just outside the vehicle.
Eyewitnesses said that the four terrorists shot the two victims again, to confirm the kill, and riddled their dead bodies with bullets. The bodies of the two victims were mutilated and perforated by the shooters.
"The terrorists threw a hand grenade and sprayed them," the witness said. "It was a difficult sight to look at the two bodies."
The fuel transfer terminal is operated by the Israeli gasoline company Dor Alon. It operates in such a way that fuel trucks arrive on the Israeli side and unload their cargo into an underground pipeline that transfers the fuel into Palestinian territory. Fuel delivery is expected to be interrupted for at least several days.
The Israel Defense Forces estimated that the infiltration and subsequent terror attack had been planned for a long time and its aim objective was to kidnap an IDF soldier or an Israeli civilian to be used as a bargaining chip in later negotiations. The IDF base their estimation on the fact that a getaway vehicles was located nearby. A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees confirmed that the abduction of a soldier was the shooting attack's primary purpose.
IDF troops and paramedics arriving on the scene came under heavy rifle and mortar fire.
Two terrorists were killed by the IDF inside the terminal, and an aircraft hit a car carrying one of the fleeing terrorists, seriously injuring him, Hamas reported. Military sources said that the terrorists cut the border fence and entered Israel. In recent days, Hamas has been threatening it would breach the border.
Three terror groups, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and Fatah's Mujahideen Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mortar shells were still being fired at Israeli communities in the area several hours after the attack. Hamas itself claimed to have fired several of the mortars, its first such activity in weeks.
Government spokesman Mark Regev said Gaza's Hamas rulers are "responsible and will be held accountable."
"Israel considers the ruling Hamas in the Gaza Strip the sole party responsible for today's terror attack at the Nahal Oz Terminal. Hamas bears responsibility and will also bear the consequences," the Foreign Ministry announced earlier Wednesday.
"This terror attack proves once more that not only do the terrorists in the Gaza Strip target Israelis, but they also try to harm the civilian infrastructure that enables normal life in Gaza," the statement continued. "Anyone with eyes can see that the objective of the terrorists is to kill as many Israelis as possible and undermine any expression of coexistence between Israel and Palestinians."
"Israel transfers food, fuel, medicine, supplies and humanitarian aid to the residents of the Strip on a daily basis, and the terrorists who attacked the Nahal Oz Crossing today are trying to sabotage this activity. In doing so are mainly damaging their own lives and the wellbeing of the residents of the Strip. Israel will know how to defend itself and will act against the terror organizations and their operatives while simultaneously maintaining its efforts in order to avert a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip," the statement concluded. |
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
