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| An
Israeli Merkava tank in the town of Al Khalil
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AL
KHALIL (Hebron), May 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Two
Palestinian officials were assassinated early Tuesday, May 14, when
Israeli occupation troops staged a pre-dawn incursion into the
autonomous Palestinian area of Halhoul north of Al Khalil (Hebron) in
the southern West Bank, Palestinian security sources said.
After
surrounding their homes and firing at them, Israeli soldiers
assassinated local Palestinian intelligence chief Khaled Abu Khiran
and his deputy Ahmed Zamara, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Speaking
to IslamOnline, Mohamad Mishaal, deputy head of Halhoul municipality
said that at around 1 am, more than 10 Israeli tanks entered the
village, whose population is around 20 thousand, from its main
entrance in the south.
The
soldiers surrounded the Diwan Al Buasab area and abducted a mosque
muazen (person who calls for prayer) and beat him hard.
He
added that the soldiers when to roof tops and other searched the homes
of Emad and Jihad Abu Asab who were both abducted along with another
person Jihad Abdel Hamid Sufyan.
“After
that we heard loud gunfire and when the forces retreated we found that
both Abu Khiran, 35, and his deputy Al Zamara, 27, were shot dead,”
said Mishaal.
He
added that the occupation forces during the last few weeks have always
pretended to withdraw from cities and then suddenly return to enter
it.
Israeli
soldiers also abducted several Palestinians in the cities of Jenin,
Tulkarem and Al Khalil, claiming to have arrested nearly 20 wanted
“militants”.
Meanwhile,
the Palestinian minister for non-governmental organizations, Hassan
Asfour, and his bodyguard, were beaten by five masked men Monday night
in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Asfour's wife Maha told AFP.
The
five then ran away, leaving Asfour and his bodyguard lying on the
ground. The incident happened near Asfour's home at about 9:00 pm
(1900 GMT), she said.
The
minister was taken to the hospital for treatment, she said, without
giving further details.
Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat as well as several Palestinian ministers
headed to Sheikh Zayed hospital in Ramallah to visit Asfour at his
bedside.
Arafat
ordered all security agencies to find out who was behind the attack
and to present them for prosecution, reported Palestinian News Agency
(WAFA).
With additional reporting from Awad Al Rajoub, IOL Palestinian
correspondent
