Sunday, December 30, 2007

On the Murder of Two Soldiers by Moderate Terrorists

We post and then comment on excerpts from three items concerning the recent murder of two Israelis near Hebron.

From an IDF Announcement December 28:

Two Off Duty Soldiers Killed in a Palestinian Shooting Attack in Southern Hebron



Two IDF soldiers, private Ahikam Amihai and Sergeant David Rubin, residents of Qiryat Arba, were killed this afternoon. The two, who were off duty, were killed by Palestinian fire while they were hiking near wadi Telem, northwest of Hebron.

An initial investigation of the incident shows that the two soldiers were hiking in the area along with an Israeli woman when a group of Palestinian gunmen opened fire at them. An exchange of fire ensued between the Palestinian gunmen and the soldiers, who were carrying their personal rifles. One gunman was killed and another was severely injured in the exchanges of fire.


From YNet December 29:

Fayyad: We mourn deaths of Israeli soldiers



"We mourn the deaths of the two soldiers. Every death is a senseless one," Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Saturday evening in a meeting with President Shimon Peres in Herzliya.

"We are working to end the bloodshed, to create a better future," said Fayyad and extended his condolences to the families of Cpl. Ahikam Amihai and Sgt. David Ruben, two off-duty soldiers on a hiking trip who were killed in a shooting attack south of Hebron.



During a survey of the PA's deployment in Nablus earlier in the day, Fayyad acknowledged that the attack had occurred on Palestinian territory. He vowed that the government would fulfill its commitment to rein in armed groups attacking Israel.


From the Ma'an News Agency, December 29:

Israeli troops sieze Al-Aqsa Brigades commander, four others in connection with Hebron shooting



Hebron - Ma'an - Israeli forces seized the field commander of the military wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank city of Hebron and four other Al-Aqsa Brigades members on Friday.

The raid comes a day after Palestinian fighters killed two Israeli settlers in a drive-by shooting near Hebron.

The Al-Aqsa Brigades Media Center said commander Ahmed Muhammad Abu Sitteh, also known as Abu Suleiman, was detained late on Friday night and taken to an unknown location.

Israeli officials confirmed the raid and the detention of the five Palestinians, accusing them of involvement in Friday's drive-by shooting that killed two off-duty Israeli soldiers, both residents of the Kiryat Arba settlement, near Hebron.

The Al-Aqsa Brigades denied any involvement in the attack. Islamic Jihad's military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for the shooting on Friday. The Al-Quds Brigades were likely retaliating for the assassination of one of it's high-ranking leaders in the Gaza Strip earlier this week.

Witnesses identified the detained men as brothers Na'im Nabil Natsheh, Firas Natsheh, Hazem Natsheh, Omar Noman Natsheh, Abdullah Natsheh and Shadi Natsheh.

Palestinian security sources said the Palestinian car used in the shooting has been found, and that the vehicle contained blood, as well as bullets and objects belonging to Twenty-two-year-old Nabil Basil Natsheh, who disappeared following the attack.


Comments: The Al-Aqsa Brigades are part of Palestinian Authority chair Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah terrorist group. Abbas is usually referred to as a moderate, but he leads a group which continues in its traditional terrorist ways.

The words of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad would be taken more seriously if the Palestinian Authority began implementing its commitment under the road map to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure it built up in the disputed territories, a step which necessitates the elimination of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and the countless other terrorist groups the PA continues to harbor and often nurture.

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