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Kineret Mandel, 24; Oz Ben-Meir, 15; Matat Rosenfeld-Adler, 21 (photos provided by families and school of the victims)
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Paramedics collect remains at scene of shooting (AP)
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| By israelinsider staff and partners October 16, 2005 |
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| AP |
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Three Israelis were murdered Sunday afternoon and four were wounded when Palestinians opened fire on a hitchhiking station at the Gush Etzion junction just south of Jerusalem. Palestinian gunmen traveling in a speeding car shot at the crowded stop, then apparently escaped to nearby Bethlehem.
The victims were Kineret Mandel, age 24 and Matat Rosenfeld-Adler, age 21, both of Carmel, and 15-year-old Oz Ben-Meir of Ma'on. Adler, 21, was married three months ago.
A half hour later came another shooting attack near the entrance to Eli in central Samaria, where a young Israeli wounded, moderately to seriously by drive-by gunmen, strongly suggesting that the attacks were coordinated, an assumption proved correct after Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade, affiliated with Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, took credit for the attack.
Around, Haaretz reported, Israel Defense Forces troops killed an Islamic Jihad leader near Jenin area in northern Samaria. It was not yet clear if the man was shot during an arrest operation or in a targeted killing. The IDF actions was not in reaction to the other terror attacks.
It was the bloodiest assault in Judea and Samaria since Israel completed its pullout from the Gaza Strip and four Samarian communities last month. Israeli security officials and opposition politicians have warned that following the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Palestinian militants would shift their activities to the West Bank, seeking to force out Israelis and their communities from there as well.
David Baker, an official in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, denounced the shootings. "Israel removed roadblocks and made a number of humanitarian gestures to ease up on the Palestinians," he told The Associated Press. "It's unfortunate that the Palestinians have exploited these measures to carry out these murderous attacks."
Israel has demanded the Palestinians dismantle militant groups if it wants to restart peace talks. "The Palestinian Authority has to move from the talking stage to the action stage," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said. "We will not be able to continue in this process if the Palestinian Authority does not start taking concrete actions against the terror groups."
Israel responded with tough new measures limiting movement in the West Bank, security officials said. Exits from Bethlehem and Hebron will be blocked, Palestinian cars will be banned from main West Bank roads and arrests raids will be stepped up, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters. The decisions were made at high-level consultations led by Mofaz.
The victims will be laid to rest tomorrow in Sussia in the Hebron Hills.
The AP contributed to this report.
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