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Israeli police late Sun. inspecting the police car that was involved in a West Bank shooting attack in which two policemen were killed.
 (AP)
Last update - 14:20 16/03/2009
Police: West Bank shooting not caused by checkpoint removal
By Jonathan Lis and Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: israel news, palestinians 

Senior police officials say that the removal of checkpoints and the low intensity of Israel Defense Forces operations in the West Bank did not contribute to Sunday's shooting death of two traffic cops in the Jordan Valley.

"The IDF's activity is very extensive," said Shlomi Katbi, the commander of the West Bank police. "I don't see where one can tie the ongoing security activity and its quality with what happened Sunday evening."

Danny Dayan, the head of the Yesha council of West Bank settlements, said Israel's policies in the territories were to blame for the continued bloodletting.
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"Every right-minded person knew that the policy of removing checkpoints and freeing terrorists that the outgoing government continues to force upon the IDF until its last days in office will exact a heavy price in blood," Dayan said.

National Union MK Uri Ariel said the attack is "an immediate indication of the price in blood for the removal of checkpoints Sunday morning in Nablus."

"In the next government, we will prevent such irresponsible security moves," Ariel said.

'Imad Mughniyeh Group' claims responsibility

An organization calling itself the "Imad Mughniyeh Group" early Monday claimed responsibility for a West Bank shooting attack a day earlier that killed two Israel Police officers.

An anonymous caller speaking on behalf of the group spoke to French news agency, AFP, Israel Radio reported.

The group is named for the top Hezbollah commander who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus in February 2008 that was blamed on Israel. Jerusalem denied involvement in the killing.


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The two police officers died Sunday evening from gunshot wounds sustained while on patrol near the settlement of Masu'a, in the northern West Bank.

Both victims were found in their vehicle suffering from critical gunshot wounds. One was pronounced dead by medics shortly after being discovered, and the other succumbed to his wounds following resuscitation efforts.

The two policemen have been named as David Rabinowitz and Yehezkel Ramzamker.

Police and rescue services were notified shortly after 8 P.M. of an apparent car accident near the Masu'a settlement and of a shooting attack in the same area. Officers who arrived on the scene found the overturned patrol car and the victims inside.

An Israel Police spokesman said the circumstances of the incident were still being investigated, although the main line of inquiry being pursued was that the two had been shot by one or more Palestinian gunmen.

According to an initial investigation, militants opened fire on the patrol car at close-range, causing the officers to lose control of the vehicle.

Police are also investigating the possibility that the attacker or attackers staged a flat tire and then shot the officers at close range when they stopped to help.

"The two had been killed by gunshots and the main suspicion points to a nationalistic motive," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Masu'a is located in the Jordan Valley, just southeast of Nablus and near the major West Bank settlement of Ariel.

Two police officers were lightly wounded in Jerusalem 10 days ago when an Arab bulldozer driver overturned their vehicle and rammed it into a bus, before being shot by police and a taxi driver. The attacker later died of his wounds.

Last Wednesday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian youth and wounded another after firebombs were thrown at their vehicle in the West Bank.

In January, a 34-year-old resident of the West Bank settlement of Kochav Hashahar was seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire on his car on the highway near the settlement. Moshe Avitan, who was driving at the time, suffered wounds to his face from the shooting.

Israel has transferred some security control to Palestinian security forces in West Bank towns but controls much of the traffic that travels through the areas at checkpoints in territory.

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      1.   The location of the incident! 21:25  |  Magellan 15/03/09
      2.   Sad..but what where doing so deep in West Bank 22:00  |  paul 15/03/09
      3.   These policemen were in their own country 22:03  |  Leah 15/03/09
      4.   West Bank and East Bank 22:10  |  Fair and Square 15/03/09
      5.   GIVING LIVES TO PROTECT SETTLERS! 22:26  |  Marcos 15/03/09
      6.   if west bank is judea, why don`t you give the Arabs the rights? 04:50  |  mark 16/03/09
      7.   #3 Leah, well, yes, but everybody 05:25  |  ballistic 16/03/09
      8.   Character and persona ..... instincts don`t lie 05:33  |  allang 16/03/09
      9.   sad...but what were they doing... 05:44  |  yonie 16/03/09
      10.   Location 06:15  |  Ruth Broch 16/03/09
      11.   Solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 07:05  |  Jean Van Daem 16/03/09
      12.   The location of the incident! 07:53  |  Answer to Paul 16/03/09
      13.   Died or Murdered? 07:53  |  Baruch Gold 16/03/09
      14.   policemen are soldiers, terrorits, agents of a foreign military 08:38  |  American 16/03/09
      15.   lets take away more roadblocks and give them more weapons 09:19  |  Zev 16/03/09
      16.   There is only one way to prevent those kind of "incidents"..... 09:42  |  Swiss (Dino) 16/03/09
      17.   To Zev # 15 09:46  |  Amir 16/03/09
      18.   Long, long ago in a universe far, far away... 14:14  |  Natallie Durson 16/03/09
      19.   Can you name the Palestininas who lost their homes for them. 14:16  |  American 16/03/09
      20.   palestine:a tragedy in countless acts 14:19  |  will rattleshell 16/03/09
      21.   #1 Magellan - right about location, wrong about law 14:21  |  Shlomo 16/03/09
      22.   Shlomo - you recognize that this is occupation then 15:04  |  Sylvie 16/03/09
      23.   The solution to this: Expel 10,000 permamently Arabs to Jordan 15:21  |  Tomer 16/03/09
      24.   Violence inevitable on stolen land 15:23  |  gearoid 16/03/09
      25.   West Bank shooting 15:33  |  Inem 16/03/09
      26.   What are 2 Israeli policemen doing on Palestinian land? 15:38  |  Clickfool 16/03/09
      27.   Clickfool 16:02  |  Zelkha 16/03/09
      28.   trespassers will be shot 16:04  |  ravi 16/03/09
      29.   Occupation is not a policeman`s fault 16:20  |  Dave Duncan 16/03/09
      30.   Did these `policemen` have blood on their hands? 16:23  |  Lou Medel 16/03/09
      31.   Mark, nr 6, you ask a very good question 17:05  |  Fair and square 16/03/09
      32.   This is liberated Jewish territory 17:07  |  Fair and square 16/03/09
      33.   Sincerely to Haaretz` well-meaning writers: 17:10  |  Fair and square 16/03/09
      34.   The tourists in Israel feel a lot safer when they see 17:36  |  Maria 16/03/09
      35.   Sylvie 17:40  |  Yakov 16/03/09
      36.   Dave Duncan (#29) is right 17:48  |  David 16/03/09
      37.   # 32 squared 17:50  |  Axel 16/03/09
      38.   # 23 tomer 17:52  |  Axel 16/03/09
      39.   #31,32,33 Fair and Square 17:52  |  PCR 16/03/09
      40.   Re: Fair and square 17:53  |  David 16/03/09
      41.   Only logical this incident happened. 17:58  |  liam 16/03/09
      42.   Legal Under UN Resolution 42 18:02  |  Arch Mangle 16/03/09
      43.   "Not Israel`s Land" 18:10  |  Ralph Miller 16/03/09
      44.   Sorry they were killed but 18:11  |  Janice 16/03/09
      45.   When the finger-pointing starts before a conclusion 18:16  |  Kris Lazar 16/03/09
      46.   Hemrhoid - #24 18:18  |  Groff 16/03/09
      47.   #21 Schlomo -either way, they are legitimate targets. 18:19  |  Labhras 16/03/09
      48.   Looks like two nice guys taken a hit 18:20  |  Barbaro 16/03/09
      49.   Re: Ralph Miller (#43) 18:59  |  David 16/03/09
      50.   enemy combatants. 19:00  |  Axel 16/03/09
      51.   How stupid 19:10  |  R 16/03/09
      52.   Its Israel there is no Palistine 19:11  |  Levi 16/03/09
      53.   to Clickfool#26 19:17  |  Ilya 16/03/09
      54.   Who is Clickfool ? 20:05  |  Gershon 16/03/09
      55.   Police Cover Up 20:07  |  Baruch Gold 16/03/09
      56.   Another example of ,"why... 20:11  |  Forrest Schmidt 16/03/09
      57.   # 52 levi 20:14  |  Axel 16/03/09
      58.   David - #43 - Right to vote and annexation of WB 20:16  |  Ralph Miller 16/03/09
      59.   # 56 forrest 20:25  |  Axel 16/03/09
      60.   # 57 david 20:27  |  Axel 16/03/09
      61.   Axel- #60 20:58  |  Ralph Miller 16/03/09
      62.   Re # 2 Settlements... A heavy price to be paid 21:02  |  Ines 16/03/09
      63.   Until the Perps are Captured and Interrogated, No One Can Know 21:24  |  UsedToPostHere 16/03/09
      64.   #16 Swiss , please talk sense . 21:25  |  TOMY 16/03/09
      65.   Government lies again 21:34  |  Gee 16/03/09
      66.   mark #6 after you give 12 million Mexicans citizenship 21:35  |  Gee 16/03/09
      67.   To Clickfool (# 26). 21:41  |  flyingdoc57 16/03/09
      68.   #26 FOOL what are you doing on an ISRAELI site 22:27  |  Ari ben Yisrael 16/03/09
      69.   Re # 13 ...and they are not militants they are 22:28  |  Ines 16/03/09
      70.   #38 axel 22:31  |  Ari ben Yisrael 16/03/09
      71.   Re # 14 Really ?? Who says so ??? 22:32  |  Ines 16/03/09
      72.   #68 Blockhead freedom of speech and expression 01:06  |  deno 17/03/09
      73.   Settlers, civilized behaviour? 01:33  |  AT 17/03/09
      74.   #68 01:56  |  Joan 17/03/09
      75.   #31 Man, that`s funny, Fair and square 03:45  |  Johnboy 17/03/09
      76.   Interesting that no-one comment on this fact... 04:22  |  Johnboy 17/03/09
      77.   PCR: Living Memory 05:23  |  Tex 17/03/09
      78.   Never.. never trust them of Jewish Lives sake ! 06:06  |  Akram Zekaria 17/03/09
      79.   Re: Tex 06:29  |  PCR 17/03/09
      80.   #58 Then don`t covet the land, Ralph 23:04  |  Johnboy 17/03/09
      81.   #61 Ralph has problems with "self-determination" 23:10  |  Johnboy 17/03/09
      82.   Two Dead Policemen 15:29  |  LMM 19/03/09
      83.   africa 07:03  |  Tony B. 22/04/09
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