"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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