3 Palestinians Die in Israeli Missile AttackAn Israeli combat helicopter fired three missiles on a Palestinian vehicle near the West Bank city of Bethlehem November 9, killing two Palestinians on the spot.A woman, who was wounded in the missile attack, died later in hospital, bringing the death toll in the attack to three so far, said Palestinian hospital officials in Bethlehem. At least 10 other Palestinians, including women and four children, were wounded in the missile attack and several of them are in critical conditions, the hospital officials added. Israeli army has confirmed in a statement the missile attack, saying that Israeli intelligence reports showed that several armed Palestinian militiamen, belonging to the Tanzim, were on the car and may be on their way to conduct terrorist attacks against Israel. Tanzim, a militia affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, rejected the Israeli accusation, saying that the Israeli military was trying to find some excuses to justify its raids. "This is a step by the Israeli side to up the escalation...and Tanzim surely will take retaliations," local media quoted Tanzim officials as saying. The attack on the Palestinian pick-up truck took place near the Palestinian village of Beit Sahur, not far from another Palestinian village of Beit Jala, just south of Jerusalem. The car was heading to Beit Jala village with a load of food intended to be distributed to residents of the village, when it was hit by the Israeli combat helicopter, a Palestinian source said. This was the first time that an Israeli combat helicopter attacked a moving Palestinian vehicle in the six weeks of Palestinian-Israeli clashes, during which the Israeli security forces have killed over 190 Palestinians and wounded nearly 6,000 others. Hussein Abahayat, who was killed when the Israeli missile destroyed the truck, was a senior Tanzim operative responsible for the death of several Israelis, the Israeli intelligence said. Intelligence sources added that he was also responsible for the shots fired at Gilo three weeks ago, in which an Israeli border policeman was seriously injured. Beit Jala is not far from Israel's neighborhood of Gilo and the two places have become the source of gun fighting recently. Israeli army tanks shelled targets in Beit Jala Wednesday night in response to heavy sniper fire. |
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