Baby murdered in Hebron attack
By Margot Dudkevitch and Herb Keinon

JERUSALEM (March 27) - The IDF imposed an internal blockade and closure on Hebron last night and a curfew on Palestinians living in the Israeli-controlled section of the city, after Palestinian snipers shot 10-month-old Shalhevet Tehiya Pass in the head as she was in her mother Uriya's arms and moderately wounded her father Yitzhak, 24, in the legs as they stood at the entrance to the Avraham Avinu neighborhood early yesterday evening.

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[The Funeral]

[Video footage of the attempted resuscitation of Shalhevet minutes after the attack (Israel TV)]

[Fatal attack on family in Hebron (Audio)]

[Hebron Jews react to child slaying (Audio)]

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Despite frantic efforts to resuscitate her, Shalhevet died.

Minutes after the attack, IDF tanks fired at a building in the Abu Sneneh neighborhood on the hill opposite which was identified as the source of the sniper fire. An intense exchange of gunfire followed. The shooting resumed later last night and Jewish residents set up a protest presence at the bottom of the Abu Sneneh neighborhood, calling it the Shalhevet Hilltop.

The IDF called on Palestinian residents in the neighborhood to evacuate their homes by 9 last night. Palestinians claim several were wounded, and soldiers arrested several Palestinians. The army also closed the Hebron-Jerusalem road to Palestinian vehicles.

A statement issued by the family said family members would refuse to conduct the funeral until the army took over Abu Sneneh. They received a rabbinical dispensation to delay the funeral.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon placed the responsibility for the attack squarely on the shoulders of the Palestinian Authority, and held deliberations with security heads to determine a response.


"Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sees the Palestinian Authority as responsible for the acts of violence and terror that led today to the murder of an infant and the wounding of her father in Hebron," a statement released by the Prime Minister's Office said.

A senior advisor to Sharon said that past experience indicates that the sniper fire of this kind generally comes from forces under PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's control. "That has been the pattern in the past," he said.

He warned that Sharon will "crack down" on the Palestinians responsible, but would not elaborate. "You don't have to announce in advance what you will do, or when, but whoever perpetrated this will bear the responsibility," he said. "This is cold-blooded murder."

These words dovetail with speculation that Sharon plans to step up direct attacks against intifada activists.

During his recent trip to Washington, Sharon told the Bush administration that Israel will take action against those involved in terror and responsible for sending the terrorists, and that the US should not be "surprised" by action on this front. This led to speculation that Sharon plans on targeting higher echelons.

Sharon spoke last night with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, and briefed him on the terror attack.

According to Sharon's office, he said that Israel has taken a series of steps to ease the economic conditions in the territories in the last few days, but that Arafat has not directed the terror to stop, and instead has stepped it up. Sharon also said that Arafat's Force 17 was responsible in recent days for mortar attacks on Israeli targets.


Sharon also said that Israel took these steps to try and calm the situation, and stressed that Israel is interested in moving toward peace. Furthermore, he said, efforts to renew security coordination with the Palestinians have met with only a partial response from the PA.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said it is a "terrifying incident that shocks everyone." He said that "horrible" incidents like that harm all attempts at dialogue.

During a meeting earlier in the day with visiting Swiss Foreign Minister Joseph Deiss, Peres said that "bullets" will not alter Israel's position. "[Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat and [Jordan's King] Hussein got everything they did on the strength of words and through the language of peace, not through violence and terror," he said. He added that if Europe sends out signals that it is acceptable for Arafat to use terror alongside negotiations, then the terror will not end.

Peres rejected European demands to investigate human rights violations in the territories, saying that the most fundamental human right is to "live and remain alive."

Sharon, who also met with Deiss, told him that the Palestinian response to the government's decision to ease up on economic sanctions has been to increase terror and violence.

Sharon also asked Deiss to have his government transfer its liaison office with the PA from its current location in east Jerusalem to within the PA areas, since its present location contravenes the terms of the Oslo Accords.

In addition, Sharon asked Swiss help in bringing home kidnapped soldiers, MIAs, and kidnapped businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum.


PA Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, in Amman for the Arab summit, told Reuters there is "no evidence" the infant was killed by Palestinians, blaming the violence on the occupation.

"For the last seven months, we have been constantly fired upon from the hills transferred by Israel to Palestinian control," David Wilder, spokesman of the Hebron Jewish community, said. "We have constantly warned that if they are not retaken, someone will be hurt. If Sharon does not fulfill his promises and provide security, and the army does not take over the hills and eradicate the terrorists, then we will retake them ourselves, no matter what price we will have to pay."

Shortly after the attack, Jewish residents blocked the roads leading from Kiryat Arba and Halhoul. Several residents stoned Arab dwellings. Another group attempted to enter Abu Sneneh, but was prevented by soldiers and police.

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the army will continue its harsh response to perpetrators of attacks and those who send them, and will act to prevent the harming of civilians who are not involved in violence, a Defense Ministry statement said.

He called on the Jewish residents of Hebron to refrain from taking the law into their own hands. "The brutal murder of Shalhevet is a severe blow to us all... The IDF's long arm will reach the murderers and settle accounts," he said.


Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau told Channel 1 that he is waiting to see when the terrorists will pay the price. Landau said he had spoken with Sharon and suggested several measures, refusing to divulge the details. He said that to combat terror effectively, "we cannot just wait and respond only after an attack has occurred."

Last night, leaders of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza Strip met with Sharon to discuss the deteriorating security in the region. A statement issued by the council declared the attack proves that the Palestinians are not seeking peace but to escalate terror. It called on Sharon to put an immediate stop to the government policy of restraint and use full military force and allow the expansion of the Hebron Jewish community.

Meanwhile MK Mossy Raz said he was shocked over the attack and conveyed his deep condolences, saying that only separation from the Palestinians will provide the Jewish residents with security and will lead to their evacuation from Hebron in the future.

Elsewhere in the West Bank last night, shots were fired at Beitar Illit, at an army post north of Ofra, and at an IDF post on Tel Aras near Nablus. In the afternoon, a border policeman was lightly injured when a Palestinian attempted to run him down during a routine inspection at a roadblock at the entrance to Tulkarm. The attacker fled into the town.

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