Army tightens grip on West Bank cities

JERUSALEM - A Palestinian militant shot dead a Jewish settler couple in a West Bank ambush yesterday, bringing to 13 the number of people killed in a fresh wave of attacks within 24 hours.

Israel last night responded to the attacks, which also included a suicide bombing on a bus in the country's northern Galilee region and a shooting in Jerusalem, by further restricting Palestinian travel around most West Bank cities.

On the Palestinian side, witnesses said Israeli forces raided the West Bank village of Burqa to hunt for suspected militants. Two Palestinian men were shot dead in the battle, one of them a wanted militant.

In the latest shooting attack, a Palestinian gunman shot at the car of a Jewish settler family as it drove towards the West Bank city of Ramallah, killing the parents instantly and wounding their children, aged 3 years and 6 months.

At the scene, a baby's milk bottle stood on the asphalt road next to the blanket-covered bodies of the parents.

"Due to the last wave of attacks ... it was decided to completely restrict Palestinian movement in the areas of Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm, Qalqilya and Ramallah, with the exception of medical and humanitarian cases," the Army said.

Israel swept into seven West Bank cities in June following suicide bombings in Jerusalem, imposing curfews in the urban centres and conducting frequent raids to arrest suspected militants.

The Army had begun to ease slightly the closures and curfews that kept 700,000 Palestinians largely confined to their homes. Militants continue to elude the troops to carry out shootings and bombings.

"People lucky enough not to face the ugly face of terror can have a much more relaxed opinion about it," said Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. "If you live through a day like today, in this country, you can understand our determination."

Following the new attacks, Israeli spokesman Raanan Gissin said Israel had suspended talks due this week with Palestinians on security and easing hardships.

At United Nations headquarters in New York, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the two sides to stop the cycle of attacks and retaliation, saying it fed "anger and hatred".

Palestinian militants resorted to "indiscriminate terror" while Israel's retaliation was "equally devastating in its effects on ordinary people".

"Does it need saying, yet again, that these attacks on civilians are immoral and illegal, as well as politically counter-productive?"

At least 1481 Palestinians and 585 Israelis have been killed since the intifada erupted in September 2000.

United States President George W. Bush condemned the attacks, saying: "There are a few killers who want to stop the peace process that we have started. We must not let them."

Hamas said it sent the suicide bomber who killed nine people by detonating the bomb on the bus packed with soldiers, civilians on holiday and religious Jews on pilgrimage to the grave of a Jewish sage.

Three Israeli soldiers and two Filipinas were among the dead.

Within hours, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on Israelis in a Palestinian market area of East Jerusalem, killing one Israeli. A Palestinian bystander was killed in an ensuing shootout with police in which the gunman was shot dead.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the Jerusalem shooting.

The first person on the scene of the bus bombing was an Arab shopkeeper who pulled 15 victims from the wreck of the vehicle.

Nayef Isat, 48, owner of a supermarket nearby, was opening his shop when the bus blew up.

"I started pulling male and female soldiers out through the windows.

"My son brought a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

"Some of the female soldiers were in such a state of shock that they were just hanging there, half in and half out of the window. I really had to convince them to let me pull them out."

Isat is of Bedouin origin and a veteran of Israeli military service.

Two Jewish shopkeepers also ran to the scene but one was overcome by the horror of mangled bodies and had to be taken to hospital, while the second could do nothing because of a weak heart.

The area in northern Israel is normally a quiet and harmonious haven, where Arab and Jew live together in peace.

Avraham Freed, 52, the shopkeeper with the weak heart, said: "This is the quietest place in the whole of Israel. The Arabs invite us to our weddings and we do the same."

Among the debris of the bus, travelling from the port city of Haifa to Safed during the morning rush hour, rescuers found a child's drawing of intertwined hearts.

Hanan Sofer, the head of the local Red Star of David ambulance service, was one of the first on the scene.

"I have been working in the field for 22 years, and I have never seen such an atrocious scene. The bus was burning, mainly at the back, and the roof had been blown off.

"Some of the wounded were strewn along the road and others were trapped within the burning bus and were screaming for help. Most of them were suffering from severe burns and there was a lot of blood flowing."

- AGENCIES

Feature: Middle East

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