Fatah commander Raed al-Karmi was killed this morning in Tul Karem, east of Netanya. Arab sources report that the car he was traveling in exploded. IDF sources denied involvement in the explosion and attributed his death to an apparent premature detonation of a car bomb which he was preparing.
Al-Karmi was wanted by Israel for the January, 2001 kidnapping and murder of two cousins, Moti Dayan and Etgar Zaytuni, who went out to eat with an Israeli Arab friend in PLO-controlled Tul Karm. They were abducted from the restaurant, taken to an open field, interrogated and then shot many times in the head and chest. Zaituna and Dayan owned a restaurant on Sheinkin St. in Tel Aviv.
Immediately following the murder, the PLO arrested Karmi and his accomplices but released them a month later in February, 2001. The IDF sources said today that it was puzzling that al-Karmi would be riding freely in his car, considering that the PLO recently reported to the European Union that al-Karmi was imprisoned.
The Fatah terrorist survived two previous attempts on his life. On Sept. 6, 2001, two Apache helicopters fired four missiles at a jeep he was traveling in. Two terrorists with Karmi were killed, and he was moderately wounded.
The last elimination of a terrorist which Israel claimed responsibility for was in Hevron two months ago.
Al-Karmi was wanted by Israel for the January, 2001 kidnapping and murder of two cousins, Moti Dayan and Etgar Zaytuni, who went out to eat with an Israeli Arab friend in PLO-controlled Tul Karm. They were abducted from the restaurant, taken to an open field, interrogated and then shot many times in the head and chest. Zaituna and Dayan owned a restaurant on Sheinkin St. in Tel Aviv.
Immediately following the murder, the PLO arrested Karmi and his accomplices but released them a month later in February, 2001. The IDF sources said today that it was puzzling that al-Karmi would be riding freely in his car, considering that the PLO recently reported to the European Union that al-Karmi was imprisoned.
The Fatah terrorist survived two previous attempts on his life. On Sept. 6, 2001, two Apache helicopters fired four missiles at a jeep he was traveling in. Two terrorists with Karmi were killed, and he was moderately wounded.
The last elimination of a terrorist which Israel claimed responsibility for was in Hevron two months ago.