|
Israel
Kills U.S. Priest As He Passes Food to Besieged Nuns
 |
| Israeli
tanks fired scores of shells on churches and mosques in
Bethlehem. |
By
Maha Abdel Hady, IOL Palestine correspondent
BETHLEHEM,
Palestine, April 2 (IslamOnline) – In a serious infringement on
Islamic and Christian sanctuaries, Israeli tanks fired scores of
shells on mosques and churches in Bethlehem and Tulkarem in the West
Bank.
Palestinian
sources told IslamOnline that Father Gad Saad, 45, was killed Tuesday
afternoon in an attack by Israeli forces on the church of Saint Maria
in Bethlehem. Six nuns were wounded in the attack.
The
sources said that Father Saad was killed while attempting to pass food
to the nuns besieged in the church near the Nativity grotto.
They
added that Israeli tanks, accompanied by Apache helicopters,
indiscriminately shelled a number of churches inside Bethlehem,
particularly the Church of Nativity and Saint Mary’s monastery. The
Israeli tanks besieged the clergy and nuns within the confines of the
churches.
Reports
have clashed about the murder of Father Saad, following a report by
the Vatican missionary website MISNA, which earlier said that Rev.
Father Jacques Amateis, a Salesian of Italian nationality, is alive.
It
was Father Saad, a U.S. national, who was killed, and not Father
Amateis, sources told IslamOnline.
In
the same context of Israeli violations of places of worship in the
occupied Palestinian territories, Israeli tanks shelled the New Mosque
in the city of Tulkarem – the Othman Ibn Affan Mosque, destroying
large parts of the building. Special Israeli commandos stormed the
mosque, causing severe damage.
“Israel
indiscriminately shells Islamic sanctuaries in various Palestinian
cities,” the governor of Tulkarem told IslamOnline. “Israelis are
particularly shelling the Tulkarem mosques because they called for
dawn prayers despite the Israeli invasion of the city. This provoked
the Israeli occupation soldiers who set out to destroy anything that
says ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is Greatest).”
On
the dawn of Tuesday, April 2, Israeli tanks stormed old Bethlehem,
which is under Palestinian self-rule. Fierce battles have raged
between the Palestinians defending the city and the invading tanks
moving towards the Church of Nativity grotto in the city center.
Meanwhile,
Israeli military sources said that Palestinians launched Tuesday an
anti-tank RBJ missile in the direction of an Israeli force, without
causing any casualties, adding that the use of the missile ran counter
to Israeli-Palestinian agreements.
Palestinian
sources said the Jerusalem Regiments – the military wing of Islamic
Jihad – claimed responsibility for the attack.
The
Jerusalem Regiments have recently announced that the coming days will
bring a lot of surprises. 
|
