RAMALLAH — Four Israelis were killed and eight injured in
Palestinian shooting attacks that appear to target Jewish settlements in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It was the highest daily casualty toll of Israeli civilians during the
six-week miniwar with the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian sources said
theh Palestinian Authority and the ruling Fatah party have decided to target
Jewish settlers in wake of last week's Israeli assassination of a leading
Fatah militant.
The escalation prompted an emergency meeting of the Israeli Cabinet.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak was in the United States but in a statement issued
by his office, he blamed the PA for the attacks.
"These deplorable acts are a direct consequence of the Palestinian
Authority's policy of encouraging violence and calling for a jihad against
Israel," Barak said. "The attackers and those who sent them will be
punished."
The Cabinet decided on a closure of PA areas with the exception of
humanitarian aid. Officials said
Palestinians will not be allowed out of their cities and villages in the
West Bank.
But Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz said Tuesday that any closure
could not be fully enforced.
"They [the Palestinians] will always find an alternative route," Mofaz
said. "It's impossible to hermetically seal the area."
Israeli military sources said a Palestinian squad struck three times at
Israeli vehicles on Monday. The first was at an Israeli sedan north of
Ramallah in which an Israeli woman was killed.
Moments later, the Palestinians, traveling in a car, approached at an
Israeli bus and fired near the Jewish settlement of Ofra. The sources said
Palestinian gunmen shot at least 50 bullets at the vehicle and killed two
more Israelis.
Hours later in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli truck driver was shot dead in
a Palestinian ambush near the terminal of Kissufim. The driver was returning
to Israel from a delivery in Gaza.
In all, 25 Israelis have been killed in the miniwar. More than 200
Palestinians -- most of them civilians -- have been killed in the violence.
On Monday, three Palestinians died in clashes with Israeli
forces, including the nephew of PA security chief Mohammed Dahlan.
Sources in the Fatah movement loyal to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat
acknowledged the attacks. They said Jewish settlers living in the West Bank
are legitimate targets of Palestinians.
"They pay the price for the Israeli policy against the Palestinian
people," Fatah aide Ziad Abu Ein said.
On Monday evening, Fatah gunmen turned their weapons on Jerusalem. For
the second straight day, gunfire was directed at the southern Jerusalem
neighborhood of Gilo.
Israeli gunners responded with machine gunfire toward the source of the
fire, in the nearby Palestinian village of Bet Jallah.
The miniwar has ended Palestinian payments to Israel for services. The
PA owes the state-owned Israel Electric Corp. 17 million shekels [$4.1
million] for electricity supplied to the Gaza Strip.
At first, the PA said it cannot charge Gaza residents amid the violence,
which has also halted construction of a power plant in the area. "We have
not been able to collect the bills owed by the citizens," PA Energy Minister
Abdul Rahman Hamad.
But the PA forwarded 5 million shekels when the Israeli utility
threatened to cut off power.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli cabinet will meet Tuesday night to discuss the
security situation. Outside the prime minister's office, the organization of
Jewish settlers from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is holding a vigil.
On Tuesday, Palestinians tossed seven fire bombs at Israeli troops in
the West Bank towns of Kalandia and Hebron. No injuries were reported.
