AL-KHALIL,
West Bank, November 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Eleven
Israeli settlers and soldiers were killed and 15 wounded in back-to-back
Palestinian ambushes on the outskirts of the West Bank city of al-khalil
Friday, November 15.
The
attacks were claimed by the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad.
At
around 7:30 pm (1730 GMT), an undetermined number of Palestinian
resistance activists opened fire on settlers on the so-called Prayers
Road.
Shortly
afterwards, Israeli soldiers rushing to the scene from the direction of
the settlement came under fire and grenade attacks. There were no
immediate details on casualties among them.
At
least three settlers were killed and several wounded, medical sources
said.
A
witness said "it wasn't one or two, there was a good number of
them. They knew exactly, step by step, where we were going."
"We
are from the Islamic Jihad and we claim responsibility for tonight's
attack in Hebron," a caller told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in the
West Bank city of Jenin, adding that his group would issue a full
statement on the attack shortly.
Israel
public radio said it took the emergency services more than 40 minutes to
reach the wounded due to heavy ongoing firing between soldiers and the
gunmen.
Shooting
was still heard in the area two hours after the first attack, an AFP
correspondent at the scene said.
Israel
private television said soldiers, border police and civilians were among
the dead, adding that a number of the wounded were still at the scene
some two and a half hours after the first attack.
Professor
Shmuel Shapira, deputy director general of Hadassa hospital in Jerusalem
told AFP seven wounded had arrived at the hospital, one critical, three
very serious, two moderate and one lightly injured.
Five
of the injured were taken to Sharei Tzedek hospital in occupied
Jerusalem, one in moderate condition and four lightly wounded, an AFP
correspondent said.
It
was not clear where the remaining wounded were taken.
Hebron
is the scene of frequent clashes between the settlers and Palestinian
population. Some 600 radical Jewish settlers live there enclaved among
120,000 Palestinians.
Earlier
Friday, in the West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestine Red Crescent
Society said a 16 year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli
army in a stone-throwing incident. Two other teenagers were lightly
wounded, the society said.
On
Wednesday, November 13, a three-year old Palestinian baby was killed and
his mother was seriously wounded by Israeli tank shells in the southern
Gaza Strip town of Rafah.
Khaled
al-Masri and his mother were in their house when the Israeli occupation
army shelled it, AFP quoted Palestinian medical sources as saying.
The
baby’s murder brings to 1,967 the number of Palestinians killed by
Israel since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada against Israeli occupation
September 28, 2000.
On
Monday, November 12, two-year old Palestinian toddler Nafez Meshal was
also killed by Israeli gunfire in Rafah, a scene of frequent Israeli
aggressions.
Also,
the Israeli army gunned down two Palestinians Thursday, November 14, in
Gaza and Nablus, and abducted 35 others at a Ramadan evening gathering
in Ramallah.
In
Nablus, 17-year-old Jalal Aweja was killed when Israeli soldiers in
tanks retaliated stone-throwing by opening fire at Palestinians.
Also
in Gaza, Israeli troops shot dead Khaled Abu Hilal, 36, in Rafah refugee
camp, near the Egyptian border in an area of frequent clashes,
Palestinian security sources said.
