Four Arabs were killed early this morning when they were sighted cutting through a fence into a Jewish-owned property. A search of the bodies found wire-cutting equipment, but no weapons. Palestinian sources said the four were innocent laborers, but did not explain why they were cutting through a fence into Jewish property at 3:00 in the morning. Two terrorist incidents have occurred in that field in the past several months, including one in which several 13-year-old yeshiva high school students were seriously wounded.
Yesterday afternoon, Israel Air Force helicopter gunships fired air-to-surface missiles at the car of a Fatah terrorist in the PLO-controlled town of Tubas, near Shechem, killing him along with four other Arabs, including two youths. Security officials say that the terrorist, identified as Rafat Daraghmeh, was planning an attack on Israelis in the next few days.
The recent incidents in which Arabs not directly involved in terrorism were accidentally killed have evoked a storm of protest among certain circles. Some even blamed new Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon for bringing a "new spirit" to the army, manifest in his remarks in a weekend interview (quoted in Friday's Arutz-7 report). In response, Public Security Minister Uzi Landau said this morning that the "regrettable strikes against citizens must not weaken the army's hands in its fight against terrorism."
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed of Har Brachah - the site of the attack last night; see above - told Arutz-7, "There's no need to apologize for killing so-called innocents. If two boys were killed while driving with a terrorist, the rest will know not to stand next to a terrorist, but rather to run away from him, until he is always alone and either gets killed, gives himself up, or leaves."
Ma’ariv newspaper editorialized today that much of the criticism of Yaalon’s remarks last week "bordered on the hysterical... For some, the Chief of Staff’s remarks on the Oslo process were tantamount to a desecration of something holy or the denial of a proven scientific formula.” The paper praised his "vigorous decision that not only will the Palestinians not succeed in defeating us in the war of terrorism that has been forced on us, but, rather, we will defeat them.”
In related news, the Al-Aksa Brigades executed one of their own yesterday. Mohammed Abu Oun, 29, was dragged to the center of the village of Jabaa, east of Netanya, and was shot to death. Oun was accused of collaborating with Israel in hunting down a local terrorist last month.
Yesterday afternoon, Israel Air Force helicopter gunships fired air-to-surface missiles at the car of a Fatah terrorist in the PLO-controlled town of Tubas, near Shechem, killing him along with four other Arabs, including two youths. Security officials say that the terrorist, identified as Rafat Daraghmeh, was planning an attack on Israelis in the next few days.
The recent incidents in which Arabs not directly involved in terrorism were accidentally killed have evoked a storm of protest among certain circles. Some even blamed new Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon for bringing a "new spirit" to the army, manifest in his remarks in a weekend interview (quoted in Friday's Arutz-7 report). In response, Public Security Minister Uzi Landau said this morning that the "regrettable strikes against citizens must not weaken the army's hands in its fight against terrorism."
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed of Har Brachah - the site of the attack last night; see above - told Arutz-7, "There's no need to apologize for killing so-called innocents. If two boys were killed while driving with a terrorist, the rest will know not to stand next to a terrorist, but rather to run away from him, until he is always alone and either gets killed, gives himself up, or leaves."
Ma’ariv newspaper editorialized today that much of the criticism of Yaalon’s remarks last week "bordered on the hysterical... For some, the Chief of Staff’s remarks on the Oslo process were tantamount to a desecration of something holy or the denial of a proven scientific formula.” The paper praised his "vigorous decision that not only will the Palestinians not succeed in defeating us in the war of terrorism that has been forced on us, but, rather, we will defeat them.”
In related news, the Al-Aksa Brigades executed one of their own yesterday. Mohammed Abu Oun, 29, was dragged to the center of the village of Jabaa, east of Netanya, and was shot to death. Oun was accused of collaborating with Israel in hunting down a local terrorist last month.