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
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
RSS