A Palestinian gunman fired into a home in this isolated Israeli settlement during Jewish New Year's festivities, killing a man and a baby girl in the first deadly attack since Israel's security Cabinet decided earlier this month to remove Yasser Arafat.
There was no claim of responsibility for the shooting rampage in Negahot late on Friday, but Israeli government officials blamed Ara-fat's Palestinian Authority for not stopping such violence.
The officials refused to say whether Israel would now speed up efforts to expel Arafat. Israel has not said when it would take action against the Palestinian leader, but it is believed the trigger could be a major Palestinian terror attack with many Israeli casualties.
"We have information that the Palestinian Authority has not been doing anything in the last few days to deter these terrorist organizations from carrying out their atrocities during the religious holidays," said Avi Pazner, an Israeli government spokesman.
Palestinian officials said leaders of Arafat's Fatah party would meet as planned yesterday to approve a new Cabinet for the incoming Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia.
The Palestinian armed with an M-16 broke into the isolated settlement of Negahot at around 9pm on Friday, said Captain Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman. The attacker knocked on the door of one of the houses and shot a 30-year-old guest who answered and the 7-month-old girl.
Soldiers guarding Negahot, near the West Bank city of Hebron, killed the attacker before he could escape, Dallal said.
The girl's parents were lightly injured in the shooting, he said.
"It's no coincidence that this attack was planned for this hour, the night of the Jewish New Year," Dallal said. "Clearly the people behind the attack knew they could find families at home during the holiday dinner."
Several attacks have been carried out during Jewish holidays in the past three years, most notably the March 27 suicide bombing last year at the Park Hotel in the northern coastal town of Netanya, which killed 29 people as they participated in the ritual Passover meal.
In an effort to prevent a repeat of such incidents, Israel stepped up security during the two-day New Year's holiday that ends at sundown today. Palestinians were banned from entering Israel and under a tightened travel ban in most of the West Bank, Palestinians were barred from leaving their communities. Thousands of police officers were also sent to guard synagogues, parks and intersections in Israel.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was determined to "remove" Arafat one day, even at the risk of harming him.
"You have to keep in mind that it is very difficult to ensure that he [Arafat] won't be harmed if we seize him," Sharon told the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot.
The fate of Arafat, who is holed up in the West Bank city of Ramallah, was thrown into question Sept. 11, when Israel's security cabinet called for his removal.
Sharon said the security cabinet's decision canceled his personal promise to US President George W. Bush -- made several years ago -- not to harm the Palestinian leader physically.
Other top Israeli officials have said the term "removal" could mean both expulsion and assassination, but Sharon's remarks seemed to suggest the first choice is to oust Arafat.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sharon's comments proved Israel was trying to kill Arafat and was not committed to implementing the US-backed "road map" peace plan, which envisions the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
Also See Story:
Stop the killing, Quartet urges
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique