Palestinians set sights on Rachel's Tomb
Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Wednesday, December 6, 2000
JERUSALEM — The Palestinian Authority has set a new goal in its
mini-war with Israel — the capture of a leading Jewish holy site.
Israeli military sources said PA fighters came within meters of Rachel's
Tomb in fighting on Monday. They said gunmen from the nearby Aida
refugee camp approached the tomb and directed automatic gunfire at one of
the holiest sites in Judaism.
At one point, the sources said, Israeli assault helicopters fired two
anti-tank missiles at Aida to stop the Palestinian gunfire. Still, the
fighting continued into Monday evening in what the sources called the most
intense in the nine-week-old campaign.
"We assume that it was an attempt to capture [the tomb]," a military
spokesman said. "We view this as a very serious incident as this is a holy
place for the Jews."
Palestinians said 12 people were injured in the fighting. They said the
attack on Rachel's Tomb came in response to Israeli fire toward Muslim
worshippers in the nearby Bethlehem-area town of Hussan. On Monday night,
Palestinians resumed fire — this time toward the southern Jerusalem
neighborhood of Gilo.
Bethlehem military governor Mohammed Jaabari did not deny that Rachel's
Tomb has turned into a target for the PA. But Jaabari said the Israel has
used
far greater firepower in response to the Palestinian attacks.
PA legislator and minister Salah Taamari went further. He said the
attack on Rachel's Tomb was in retaliation for what he termed an Israeli
campaign to end the Palestinian revolt. Officials said Israel captured more
than 650 Palestinians during the revolt and assassinated a Hamas fugitive,
Awad Silmi, in the Gaza Strip.
"They think they will overcome us village by village, town by town,"
Taamari said. "We will not let them. If they overtake a village, we will
open up fronts on them from every quarter..We will confront them no matter
what the results. This is like what happened yesterday in the Aida camp and
Gaza camp and Hussan."
But military sources said the PA targeted the capture of Rachel's Tomb
early in the mini-war with Israel. They said the tomb has been virtually
closed to worshippers because of the fighting.
Israeli motorists and communities came under Palestinian fire overnight
Tuesday. Military sources reported attacks throughout the West Bank and Gaza
Strip as Jewish settlers have organized patrols to secure a key tunnel that
connects the southern suburbs of Jerusalem to the Eztion bloc of settlements
south of Bethlehem.
Wednesday, December 6, 2000
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