GAZA CITY Ñ Palestinian insurgents have carried out attacks
disguised as women to avoid Israeli counter-fire.
The method has been adopted by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. The group is
led by the ruling Fatah movement.
Israeli military officers said Al Aqsa insurgents have taken to dressing
as Bedouin women in the Gaza Strip during shooting attacks on Israeli
civilian and military installations. They said the insurgents have donned
traditional Bedouin dress to avoid capture and confuse Israeli soldiers.
Several cases of the new insurgency tactic were reported over the last
few months. The latest case was on Thursday when the Israeli community of
Dugit came under fire in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces later
captured a suspected insurgent dressed as a Bedouin woman.
A senior Israeli officer, identified as Lt. Col. Yossi, said the
disguise employed by Al Aqsa has not turned widespread. But he said his
forces have encountered several such cases in the Gaza Strip.
In the latest incident, the insurgent dressed as a woman was quickly
identified by the elite Israeli Givati brigade. Yossi said the insurgent was
shooting from a position surrounded by civilians.
"The tank at the IDF security post identified the terrorist but did not
open defensive fire since the area was populated by civilians and we did not
want to harm innocent lives," the Israeli officer said. "We began checking
the people who strenuously claimed that there was no terrorist in their
houses. We identified a man dressed as a traditional Beduin woman."
The Palestinian insurgent was said to have told Israeli interrogators
that after shooting his rifle toward Dugit, he gave his weapon to a
Palestinian who lived in a nearby shack. Israeli soldiers later discovered
Israeli army uniforms in the shack.
