TEL AVIV Ñ Israeli military and security agencies have concluded
that the Iranian-backed Hizbullah ordered the attack in
northern Israel in which six Israelis were killed. Israeli officials said
Hizbullah retained Palestinian gunmen, equipped them with Israeli military
uniforms, assault rifles and bullet-proof vests and ordered them to attack
Israelis near the northern border. Several of the gunmen are still at large, Middle East Newsline reported.
On Tuesday, Palestinian insurgents fired on motorists near the northern
border with Lebanon, killing six Israelis. Authorities said several gunmen
sprayed semi-automatic fire toward Israeli motorists outside a kibbutz in
the western Galilee. One of the Israeli victims was an Israeli soldier who
led a charge against the Palestinian gunmen.
Two of the insurgents were killed by Israeli security forces. But
Israeli authorities ordered residents of surrounding areas to remain in
their homes as they searched for additional attackers. Officials said they
remain uncertain from where the insurgents came.
"We are sure that the Hizbullah and Palestinians in Lebanon have the
motivation and willingness to attack," Maj. Gen. Gazbi Ashkenazi, head of
the military's Northern Command, said. "This is our working assumption."
Hizbullah, the Lebanese-based Shi'ite group, has been planning what they termed would
be a massive attack on civilians along the northern border with Lebanon, the officials said.
They said Hizbullah has been training Palestinians in Iran and Lebanon for
insurgency operations in Israel.
The Fatah militia headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat
claimed responsibility for the attack. Israeli military sources, however,
said, they believe that Fatah operated in cooperation with Hizbullah.
In Ramallah, Palestinian sources reported a division between a coalition
of insurgency groups amid an Israeli military invasion of the West Bank
city. The sources said despite a pledge by all groups, only the Fatah
militia loyal to Arafat, Arafat's Force 17 praetorian guard and PA military
intelligence confronted Israeli troops. Such groups as Hamas, Islamic Jihad
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine did not fight.
On Tuesday, the deputy commander of Force 17 was killed in the Ramallah
battle. The commander was known by his nomme de guerre, Col. Abu Fadi.
In Hebron, Palestinians demonstrated against what they termed was
Egypt's refusal to stop Israeli attacks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The
demonstrators ridiculed such Arab leaders as Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah.
"They are like barking dogs or braying donkeys," Abdul Khaleq Natshe, a
Hamas spokesman, said. "Those who repress their own peoples can not be
expected to lend us a helping hand."
On Wednesday, Israel's Cabinet held a stormy session over Israel's
military operation in Ramallah. At one point, Defense Minister Binyamin
Ben-Eliezer threatened to take his Labor Party and quit the government
unless the operation was halted. Cabinet sources said Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon dared Ben-Eliezer to quit and later the defense minister shelved his
demand.
