JERUSALEM Ñ Israel has come under a wave of Palestinian attacks.
Attacks were reported in Jerusalem and in an Israeli community in the
southern West Bank. Four Israelis were killed and 10 were injured in the
weekend strikes.
The casualties were reported in the Israeli community of Otniel south of
Hebron on late
Friday. Israeli military sources said two Palestinian gunmen, dressed in
Israeli army uniforms, infiltrated the settlement and tried to storm a
Jewish seminary filled with students eating their Sabbath meal.
The sources said the Palestinians burst into a kitchen and opened fire
with U.S.-made M-16 assault rifles. One of the students locked the kitchen
door in an attempt to stop the attackers from entering the adjacent dining
area.
Three of the four Israeli casualties were identified as yeshiva
students. The
remaining casualty was identified as an Israeli soldier.
One of the Palestinians was shot and killed in the kitchen. The other
attacker was slain after a pursuit by Israeli forces. The Iranian-backed
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
"This is not the first time that terrorists tried to exploit the
Sabbath," Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinski, head of the army's Central Command,
said.
In Jerusalem, a Palestinian detonated a car bomb along a street filled
with bars. The bomb, comprised of two gas cannisters, exploded and injured
the attacker, who was immediately arrested.
