GAZA CITY, 17 October 2005 — Violence flared anew in the West Bank yesterday as Palestinian gunmen killed three Israelis drive-by shooting and Israel killed a Palestinian activist.
The Palestinians, who were in a speeding car, opened fire at a crowded bus stop in a West Bank intersection, killing the three Israelis and wounding four others. Minutes later, militants carried out a second drive-by shooting, targeting an Israeli vehicle in the West Bank and seriously wounding one Israeli, Israeli officials said.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a militant group loosely affiliated with the ruling Fatah party, claimed responsibility for the shooting attacks.
The first attack took place at the Gush Etzion junction, a main intersection in a bloc of settlements south of Jerusalem. Israeli rescue services said one Israeli died at the scene and two others died in hospital. Paramedics said two of the wounded were in serious condition. One of the wounded was a soldier, the military said.
“The police and the army are searching (for the shooters), and the whole area has been cordoned off,” said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld.
The second attack took place near the settlement of Eli in the northern area of the West Bank, relatively far from the first shooting. Rescue services said one Israeli was seriously wounded. The ground at the shooting site was covered in blood, and large numbers of police and soldiers searched the area. One soldier straightened up the bags, cameras and other belongings of the victims.
“Israel removed roadblocks and made a number of humanitarian gestures to ease up on the Palestinians,” said David Baker, an official in Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office. “It’s unfortunate that the Palestinians have exploited these measures to carry out these murderous attacks.”
In the northern West Bank, Israeli troops killed a top Islamic Jihad activist. Palestinian hospital officials said Nihad Abu Ghanim, 27, died after being shot in the head, abdomen and chest. A bystander was wounded and was in serious condition. Abu Ghanim was the top Islamic Jihad activist in Burkin, a village outside the northern West Bank town of Jenin.
The army said Abu Ghanim was killed when Israeli troops on a routine patrol in the area spotted an armed Palestinian. The man shot at them and they returned fire, killing him, the army said.
A witness said two Israeli jeeps drove up to Abu Ghanim as he was driving down the road and shot him inside his car.
— Additional input from agencies
