Israeli soldiers killed two armed Palestinians dressed in diving uniforms who attempted to infiltrate a Gaza Strip settlement from the coast, the army said yesterday, the latest in a series of failed attempts to avenge Israel's assassination of the Hamas spiritual leader.
Initially, the army said three Palestinians had been killed. After searching the area in daylight, a spokesman downgraded the death toll, saying only two bodies were found near the Tel Katif settlement.
The two militants -- who opened fire on an army outpost guarding the settlement shortly before midnight Thursday -- were wearing diving uniforms, and flippers were found thrown on the coast, the army said. The men were armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, the army said.
PHOTO: AFP
In August 2002, militants also attempted to infiltrate from the sea the Dugit settlement in the coastal strip. The militants were killed before they reached shore.
Tensions -- especially in the Gaza Strip -- have increased significantly since Israel assassinated Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin on Monday. The Islamic group has vowed bloody revenge, saying even Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is a target.
The Hamas military wing issued a rare videotaped statement on Thursday, threatening retaliation against Israelis in graphic terms.
The statement pledged "a strong, earthshaking response to make the sons of monkeys and pigs taste a painful death."
In the videotape, given to the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV channel, a masked man declared, "We say to the pig Sharon that we will pound your fortresses and make you curse yourself 1,000 times for merely thinking of assassinating our leaders and symbols."
However, some Palestinians are questioning whether violent resistance has done them more harm than good. Their economy has been decimated. Israeli checkpoints, closures and other restrictions, which Israel says are necessary to stop attackers, have made their lives miserable.
Since violence erupted in September 2000, 2,762 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and 942 on the Israeli side. But Palestinians are hard pressed to show any accomplishments from the more than three years of bloody fighting.
On Thursday, a group of respected Palestinians put a half-page advertisement in the PLO's Al-Ayyam newspaper calling on Palestinians to lay down their arms and turn to peaceful means of protest toward ending Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The intellectuals who signed the ad -- including peace advocate Sari Nusseibeh, lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi and Abbas Zaki, a leading member of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement -- said revenge attacks over Yassin's assassination would lead to strong Israeli retaliation and further hurt the Palestinian cause.
The group called on the public to "rise again in a peaceful, wise intefadeh [uprising]."
Some Palestinians doubted that the ad would be greeted with a similar call for restraint by Israelis, noting that Israel has announced plans to kill all Hamas leaders.
"We had many previous experiences with the Israelis," said Ahmed Radi, 32.
"There was a truce with Israel, but Israel has not stopped its aggression," he said.
Stepped up security measures paid off for the Israelis. On Wednesday, soldiers stopped a 16-year-old Palestinian youth with a suicide bomb vest strapped to his body at a crowded West Bank checkpoint, setting off a tense encounter with soldiers.
Pictures of the boy, Hussam Abdo, appeared on the front pages of all major Israeli newspapers on Thursday.
The family of the teenager said he was gullible and easily manipulated, and relatives demanded that militants stop using children for attacks.
"It is forbidden to send him to fight. He is young, he is small, he should be in school. Someone pressured him, maybe because they killed Ahmed Yassin," wailed Abdo's mother, Tamam.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was