IDF vows to catch Hebron baby-killer
By Margot Dudkevitch

HEBRON (March 28) - The army will get the Palestinian sniper who took deliberate aim at 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass's head and pulled the trigger, said Hebron area commander Col. Noam Tivon yesterday.

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[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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He added that the army's shelling of a building used by the gunman was only a preliminary response, hinting that more action is in store. "The Palestinian sniper, a Tanzim activist, looked at the baby through his telescopic sight, aimed and fired," he said. Tivon noted that the sniper's first bullet grazed a three-year-old girl playing in the Avraham Avinu playground, and tore her shirt.

The details emerged yesterday after experts concluded their examination. The same sniper then fired two or three more bullets, hitting Shalhevet and her father Yitzhak. Tivon called on members of the Jewish community to maintain restraint and not take the law into their own hands, saying, "I promise we will lay our hands on the murderer." Jewish residents warned that if the army failed to retake the Abu Sneneh neighborhood they would do it themselves. No date has been set for Shalhevet's funeral, which was postponed in accordance with the wishes of the family, which has pledged to delay it until the IDF retakes the Palestinian neighborhood.

In the city a closure remained in effect and the curfew imposed on the Israeli-controlled section forced Palestinians to remain in their homes. Walking from the Machpela Cave toward the Jewish community, an eery silence prevailed, the streets empty except for the increased presence of soldiers in the area.

Tensions remained high, throughout the night and yesterday the army attempted to prevent groups of Jewish youths from entering Abu Sneneh, which settlers renamed Shalhevet Hill following the murder.


Yesterday morning, in the playground where Shalhevet was shot the night before, toddlers and young children played, oblivious to the soldiers and large number of journalists present and to the groups of parents standing discussing the situation. "We are making sure that the children remain busy and there is a whole string of activities arranged for them," said Noam Arnon, spokesman of the Hebron Jewish Community.

Cardboard cartons were among the debris piled on the road outside the stores of the wholesale market next to the Avraham Avinu quarter. Jewish youths broken into one of the shops and set up a memorial room in Shalhevet's name, after receiving permission from Tivon. The youths swept the floor and wrote verses from Psalms on one wall, and Shalhevet's name on the wall opposite. When the group attempted to break into other stores, the army and police moved in, a fracas ensued, tempers ran high, and several Jewish residents began to take out their frustration on the reporters and photographers present.

"Those who tried to stir up the situation are not from Hebron," said spokesman David Wilder.

Verbal slanging matches ensued and eventually calm was restored, the soldiers and police pulled back, but not before they endured verbal abuse dished out by some of the Jewish residents who jeered at them. Soldiers at Gross Square were repeatedly forced to run after groups of Jewish youths who ran up the hill towards Abu Sneneh and haul them down.

In the Palestinian-controlled section of the city, hundreds participated in a demonstration protesting against the closure and the curfew. Several participants burned Israeli flags and later some of the demonstrators clashed with troops in Shallalah street, throwing stones and bottles and later shooting at the soldiers.

The highway leading to Hebron yesterday was almost empty with Palestinian vehicles continuing to be barred from travelling on the road and those that dared were stopped by soldiers manning roadblocks or on patrol.

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