Four Israelis killed in shooting attack near Hebron
Hamas claims responsibility for West Bank attack in which two men and two women, one of whom was pregnant, were killed.
By Anshel Pfeffer, Amos Harel and News AgenciesFour Israelis were killed on Tuesday night when gunmen opened fire on their car at the entrance to Kiryat Arba, near Hebron, in the West Bank.
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Israel Police officers surveying the scene of the deadly West Bank shooting attack on Aug. 31, 2010. |
| Photo by: Tomer Appelbaum |
The attack occurred around 7:30 P.M. on Route 60, when shots were fired at a private vehicle near the Bani Naim junction, south of Kiryat Arba. Preliminary reports showed the gunmen approached the vehicle and shot the victims multiple times at point-blank range.
Magen David Adom reported that the victims were two men aged 25 and 40 and two women, also aged 25 and 40, one of whom was pregnant.
The victims were all residents of the settlement of Beit Hagai in the southern Hebron Hills.
Hamas' military wing has claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes just a day before the White House effort to re-launch Mideast peace talks.
A statement from the armed wing of Hamas, a group that opposes any dialogue with Israel, said the "Qassam Brigades announces its full responsibility for the heroic operation in Hebron."
Hamas said it would carry out more operations after claiming the shooting.
"This attack is a chain in a series of attacks, some have been executed, and others will follow," Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the group, said.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack, saying it harms Palestinian interests.
IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi earlier this week toured the West Bank with Brigadier General Nitzan Alon, the IDF commander in the territory, to discuss the army's readiness to confront efforts to "inflame the region" ahead of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in Washington.
This attack is the latest in shooting attacks on Israelis in the West Bank. In June, a police officer was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting attack on their vehicle outside Hebron, and in May two Israelis were hurt by broken glass when bullets hit their car on a different stretch of Route 60.
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This is Abbas, and he is supposed to be the most moderate. These Palestinians, including all Israeli Arabs who support them are all rejoicing now. I as a right wing Israeli, can say that I am said whenever I hear any Palestinian casualty, whether in combat or by military mistake. The Arabs are a different breed. They are happy, especially since one victim was pregnant. This peace is over now!
And that Israel shouldn't continue endangering its own civilian population by settling them in an occupied territory.
I note with satisfaction that there are clear minded and devoted people standing up for the Palestinian cause.
Israel is immediately blaming the Palestinians to disturb the peace talks by killing jews. Israel has on the other side no problem to have killed during the last months many Palestinians, stealing their land, destroying their houses and imprisoning even children. At the same time a religious leader is demanding the killing and elimination of all Palestinians. So, please ask yourselfe, who is cheating and lying to the wholke world and pretending to make peace??
HELPED ME TO PREVENT SUCH THING - THEN -HAPPENING 2 ME? I CAN TELL YOU, COS THEY NEITHER ARE AT RISK: THE GREEKS WHO HAD BEEN ACQUAINTANCES OF THE ARABS WHO'D MAY HAVE TRIED TO. NOT ONLY THE ONES" AT HOME": EQUALLY THEIR GREEK NEIGHBOURS - AND THUS MINE TOO - I THEN HAD. AND NOT 1 GREEK: A WHOLE SET. AND NOT ONLY GREEK PEOPLE, BUT ALSO THOSE ONES WORKING AT THE BAKERY JUST ACCROSS THE STREET. AS WELL AS THE CHINESE "DOWNSTAIRS". THEY: WERE ALL IN IT AND NONE OF THEM WAS JEW. THAT IS WHAT I MEAN WITH: YOU KNOW LITTLE IF NOT NOTHING @ALL:. THANK THEM AS WELL.
This horrible tragedy just proves that there is nobody to talk with on the Arab side. Abbas can talk peace until he is blue in the face. But the reality is that the Arab is either a terrorist or a supporter of terrorism.
Typical pal arab response to Israeli continued efforts for peace. Talks should be placed on hold until Abbas arrests the terrorists and transfers them to Israel or the US for trial and execution. when jewish blood is spilled no one seems to care, but heaven forbid a home should be built for the jews. No less than 5 new jewish communities should be built in the honor of these jewish martyrs all in the area of where they were attacked.
im totally against such act. they want to undermin peace talk. we fed up with them. may they rest in peace
I also completely denounce the hateful rhetoric from that nutty Rabbi the other day.
Any hope for peace talks has been demolished after this incident! this is absolutely the worst time for such an act... on the other hand it was expected that something like this will infact put an end to negotiations... AGAIN.
Abbas is worried about building construction railroading the talks, but we won't hear a word about this from him.
As in "rest in peace"- or rather, pieces. The conflict isn't territorial. It's existential. For them, no Israel can exist anywhere. They don't want a state. They want OUR state.
What do you mean your state?.. your confusing the occupied with the occupant.... the State is the Pals state if anything.. and the land is palestinian.. always have been. there is no such thing as your land.. its all illegaly occupied and ripped from its owners.. so that explains partly what is called resistance.
these people were in the west bank, you realize. what are you saying? i don't get it.
obama is being saluted by the palestinian resistance.
The Arab to Jew kill ratio in the West Bank is still well over 100 to 1 in the last 5 years...
Yasser Arafat is dead, who will Israel blame?