OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 20 October 2003 — Three Israelis were killed and three others wounded in an ambush by Palestinian gunmen late yesterday outside the West Bank settlement of Ofra, a spokesman for Israeli emergency services said.
“To my sadness we have registered the deaths of three who were wounded,” a spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Israel called up several hundred reserve soldiers yesterday to serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip because of rising violence and fears of a new wave of Palestinian suicide bombings.
A government official said 10 battalions of reserve soldiers would plug gaps caused by cuts in defense spending. But the call-up also highlighted growing concern about persistent violence that has thwarted international peace efforts.
An Israeli military source had earlier said there would be five battalions of reserve soldiers. Israeli forces killed two militants, a woman bystander and a teenager in violence on Saturday. Three of the deaths were in southern Gaza, where troops withdrew from one refugee camp yesterday after a four-day raid but remained in another.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat criticized the army’s decision.
“These actions are consistent with the daily escalation by the Israeli Army. It’s an indication that the Israeli government will continue their aggression, incursions and curfews and this won’t lead us anywhere,” he said.
Three members of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement flew to Washington yesterday to discuss proposals for a truce with Democrat members of Congress. They have no official talks with government leaders.
