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"We are urging the Israelis…to complete these operations (in Bethlehem) as quickly as possible," says Reeker |
OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, November 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – The Islamic
Jihad said two of its members died when they blew up their tiny fishing
vessel early Saturday, November 23, alongside an Israeli naval patrol
boat, in an attack that wounded four Israeli sailors.
The
two Islamic fighters, Jamal Ismail, 21, from the Maghazi refugee camp in
southern Gaza, and Mohammad al-Masri, 19, from the northern town of Beit
Hanun, blew themselves up alongside the Israeli vessel off the northern
Gaza coast, a high-ranking member of Jihad told Agence France-Presse
(AFP) on condition of anonymity.
"The
two martyr members of the Al-Qods Brigades blew up their boat near a
Zionist boat off the northern Gaza coastline," the official said.
The
Israeli military said in statement four sailors had been wounded in the
attack, which occurred off the coast near the Jewish settlement of
Dugit.
The
fishing boat had been spotted moving towards Israeli waters, which are
banned to Palestinian vessels, the statement said.
A
small naval patrol boat, the Dabour, was sent to the area to identify
the boat. As it approached, the sailors identified two "suspicious
figures" on the boat, it continued.
"After
several attempts to make contact, water was sprayed at the boat to force
it out of the banned area.
“That
had no effect. The patrol boat fired warning shots and after several
minutes there was an explosion," the statement said.
It
did not say whether the Israeli shots had hit the boat or what happened
to the two men on board.
Following
the explosion, the army slapped a ban on all boat traffic along the Gaza
Strip's coast.
Abdullah
Arafat Al-Natsh, a 15-year-old Palestinian, who was wounded by Israeli
bullets three days earlier, died of his wounds Saturday in hospital,
medical sources said. He was shot in Al-Khalil (Hebron) on Wednesday,
November 20.
Officials
in the United States on Friday, November 22, called on Israel to wrap up
quickly its military operations against suspected fighters in the
Palestinian territories as Israeli forces re-occupied Bethlehem.
"We
are urging the Israelis, in the course of their operations, to keep in
mind the consequences of their actions, to complete these operations as
quickly as possible and to take steps to avoid further civilian
casualties," Deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.
"The
sustained commitment to constructive steps such as these will make
possible the resumption of the strategy that we, the United States, as
part of the quartet, and the parties themselves, indeed, have
outlined."
Reeker
would not comment on when that strategy -- as set out in the so-called
"roadmap" prepared by the quartet -- would next be raised.
Diplomats
have said Washington is trying to arrange a roll-out of the roadmap in
mid-December but Israel, soon to be in the throes of a heated general
election campaign, had asked for a delay.
Reasons
of concerns in Washington followed Israeli troops incursion into West
Bank towns and the southern Gaza Strip in retaliation for Thursday's bus
bombing.
The
Israeli army also re-occupied Bethlehem after the military determined
Thursday's bomber launched his attack on Jerusalem from the town.
The
Israeli army accused the Palestinian police of not stopping Thursday's
bombing, while the Palestinians blamed the Israeli army's raids for the
collapse of a security agreement by virtue of which the Israeli army
withdraw from Bethlehem in August.
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