Four Jewish settlers killed in a Hebron attack

[ 01/09/2010 - 06:59 AM ]

From Khalid Amayreh in al-Khalil

In an apparent response to the latest crackdown on pro-Hamas elements by the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian Islamist fighters have attacked Jewish settlers in the Hebron region, killing at least four of them

Israeli sources said unidentified armed men attacked a settler car near the Bani-Naim junction south east of Hebron , killing four settlers, two men and two women.

The police said all the dead were from the nearby settlement of Beit Haggai, two kilometers southeast of West Bank town of Dura .

According to the settler English website, Aruz Shiva, at least one of the four settlers killed had been involved in terrorist attacks and other criminal activities against Palestinians.

The Izzedin al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack which also comes on the eve of the commencement of American-brokered "peace talks" between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel in Washington .

In a statement believed to have been issued by al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas said the "heroic operation was a response to Israeli crimes against our people."

Islamist MP Mushir al Masri told reporters the operation was our response to the direct talks that are about to start in Washington and also a response to the security coordination between Israel and the PA."

Following the incident, a large Israeli force arrived in the area and began searching for the attackers.

Police sources said the attackers fired a large number of bullets on the car, probably in order to make sure that all occupants would die.

Some unconfirmed reports said the army arrested two suspects in connection with the incident.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army stormed the town of Bani Naim and started harassing local inhabitants, storming homes and beating civilians. Arab motorists were also harassed and attacked by Israeli troops and settlers in several localities in the southern West Bank .

In some areas, PA policemen were ordered to confine themselves to their headquarters and not patrol the streets.

The occupation army also stormed the nearby town of Shoyukh and fired flares into the air in an apparent effort to apprehend the attackers.

A Palestinian ambulance team, which was riding in the area at the time of the incident, which occurred around 7:30 p.m. local time, offered to resuscitate the settlers but were ordered to leave by Israeli soldiers.

Fawzi Barhom, a spokesman for Hamas, was quoted as saying that the attack was "a natural response to Israeli crimes." However, he refused to take responsibility for the operation.

"This operation will not make the talks in Washington fail, because the talks are a failure with or without an operation."

Settler reaction

Meanwhile, Jewish settler leaders have urged their followers to terrorize and murder Arab civilians in response to the Tuesday night attack near Hebron .

Rabbi David Druckman, a terrorist rabbi who advocates genocide against non-Jews in general and Palestinians in particular, was quoted as saying that Jews ought to behave like madmen vis-à-vis the Palestinians.

"In today's situation, we should behave like madmen in order to win. We have no other choice.” In the past, Rabbi Druckman said, “the Arabs trembled before us.” However, when Israel began to give in to the Arabs, the situation was reversed.

Earlier this week, Ovadia Yosef, the religious mentor of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which represents Jews from the Middle East , called for the "annihilation of all Palestinians."

"I pray to God to annihilate them with a plague," said elderly rabbis. His virulent remarks received little condemnation in the Israeli Jewish society.

The PA has denounced the attack as a "terrorist act," and called on the Israeli government not to allow the incident to disrupt peace talks in Washington .

The PA has been carrying out a harsh crackdown on Hamas. Palestinian sources said PA security forces have been raiding suspected Hamas sympathizers in the Hebron region. The sources put the number of detainees at more than a hundred.

Hamas reportedly warned the PA of late that its fighters would target Israelis, especially Jewish settlers, in order to pressure the PA to stop the crackdown.

Sources in the West Bank referred the alleged "new policy" of Hamas as "our own price-tag policy."

Jewish settlers have long adopted the so-called "price-tag policy" against Palestinian civilians whereby settler terrorists would attack Palestinian targets, including mosques, in response to efforts by the army to dismantle Jewish settler outposts or arrest Jewish terrorist suspects.

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