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October 13, 2000
Israel launches reprisal attacks on PA.
2 soldiers lynched in Ramallah
MARGOT DUDKEVITCH , ARIEH O'SULLIVAN, David Rudge,
Lamia Lahoud contributed to this report
The IDF warned yesterday that it is poised to continue attacking Palestinian targets if developments warrant, after attack helicopters rocketed five Palestinian police sites in the West Bank and Gaza Strip yesterday in retaliation for the brutal lynching and mutilation of two IDF reservists in Ramallah.
The IDF was investigating whether a third soldier also was killed in the rampage against the soldiers, who made a wrong turn while heading to their base. The two were identified as Yosef Avraham of Petah Tikva and Vadim Novesche of Or Akiva.
Meanwhile, Lebanese radio and television stations reported last night that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is on the verge of unilaterally declaring an independent Palestinian state.
The reports quoted Palestinian sources in Lebanon as saying that Arafat is expected to make the declaration within the next 24 hours. There was no confirmation from other sources.
Last night, Fatah called upon Palestinians to volunteer for the newly-founded Palestinian militias, a Palestinian security source said.
In Nablus, where helicopters were firing at the police headquarters last night, people poured into the streets and the police stations to protect them with their bodies. All prisoners, including those belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, were released, a Palestinian source said.
The IAF also fired rockets at the Palestinian officers' school in Jericho in retaliation for the torching of the Shalom Al Yisrael synagogue there.
'We haven't declared war on the PA. I hope that the PA doesn't want to be in a full-scale war with us,' said OC Operations Maj.-Gen. Giora Eiland.
Yesterday afternoon, IDF tanks rumbled out of their camps and the army isolated all West Bank Palestinian towns, preventing the Palestinians from moving in or out of their areas of control.
The navy imposed a blockade of Gaza, which is already fenced off. The IDF denied that its tanks had fired or that it had moved troops into any Palestinian-controlled areas. Eiland said that some 2,000 men have been called up for reserve duty during the past two weeks, and that more would be called if the situation warrants.
'The steps we took are a message, and not just a symbolic one,' he said. 'Rather, they are a clear signal that we can carry out many more and painful attacks, which we are deployed to do.
'The next step depends very much on the other side's response. We hope that the message has been transmitted and we hope that the kind of activities we carried out today will not be necessary either tonight or in the following days. But we have to be ready for any development.'
The air force attacked five targets, three in Ramallah and two in Gaza, including Arafat's seafront compound.
One IDF rocket struck just 50 meters from Arafat's headquarters while he was inside, his aides told AP. But both Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the IDF Spokesman flatly denied that Arafat had been targeted.
Avraham and Novesche lost their way en route to the army base at Beit El yesterday morning and entered Ramallah, where they were attacked and killed by Palestinian policemen and a frenzied mob at the Palestinian police station.
The body of one was later dragged by the mob to Manara Square and burned. The second, near death, was transferred to the local District Coordinating Office, where he died. Both bodies were severely mutilated.
According to initial reports, as the two were taken to the local police station, rumors spread that they were from an IDF undercover unit, and within minutes thousands surrounded the police station. Footage showed Palestinian policemen beating one of them as the mob outside cheered, IDF officials said. One of the reservists was thrown out of the top window of the police station to the crowd below. Later their vehicle was torched.
The IDF last night denied reports that a third soldier had died, apparently burned to death in the car the soldiers traveled in, despite statements made by Communications Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who told reporters that three IDF soldiers had been murdered. Barak said the army is investigating the possibility that a third soldier may have been killed.
Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh condemned the murders, but said that 'it seems the soldiers were part of an Israeli operation' planned inside Ramallah. He said Arafat had been angered and shocked by the reports of the murders.
Arafat adviser Bassam Abu Sharif also said it is very likely that the soldiers belonged to an undercover unit, but he strongly condemned the lynching and called upon the Palestinian leadership to restrain the Palestinian street. He said the street is out of control and its actions are harming Palestinian interests.
'The soldiers should have been protected by the police... what happened is against any military honor,' Abu Sharif said.
Marwan Barghouteh, a senior Tanzim militia leader, also called the brutal killings 'an unbelievable act, which should be condemned by everybody.'
The soldiers' bodies were transferred to the L. Greenberg Institute for Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir, where officials waited to receive authorization from the families to carry out autopsies.
The Cobra helicopter attack on the police station where the lynching took place began at 2:55 p.m. At about 4:30, the PA radio station, which for weeks had called on the armed Tanzim and public to attack Israeli civilians and security forces, was targeted. It was followed by attacks on the parking lot of another local police station and additional targets.
Palestinians claimed that 14 were wounded in Ramallah, including two Italian journalists, and four in Gaza. In Gaza, helicopters blasted three Palestinian gunships, the headquarters of Force 17 - Arafat's personal guard - and a floor of the building of the police station used by the Tanzim. Helicopters also hit additional targets in both areas, but the IDF refused to divulge details.
A smiling, defiant Arafat was cheered by hundreds of Palestinians as he toured the Gaza sites hit by rockets.
'Our people don't care, and don't hesitate to continue their march to Jerusalem, the capital of the independent Palestinian state,' he said.
Arafat's whereabouts later in the day were unclear, and it was rumored that he had gone to a secret underground headquarters.
The IDF Spokesman flatly denied statements made by Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan, who claimed that IDF soldiers were entering the Gaza Strip and areas in the West Bank.
Last night two Israeli civilians were lightly wounded after stones were thrown at their car near Betar Illit. The two were transferred to Hadassah-University Hospital, Ein Kerem.
Shots were fired at the DCO in Tulkarm, where troops returned fire. No injuries were reported. The IDF deployed attack helicopters near Ariel and Hebron after heavy exchanges of shots were reported in both areas. The IDF spokesman said the helicopters fired into open areas as a warning to the Palestinians.
Security forces have warned Jewish civilians to refrain from traveling on roads in the West Bank at night, fearing they may come under fire.
Earlier, shots were fired at troops near Adam, but no injuries were reported. An Israeli civilian suffered light injuries after stones were thrown at his car near El Aroub.
In the Gaza Strip last night, firebombs were thrown at the hothouses of Ganei Tal, setting one of them ablaze. IDF troops fired rubber bullets at the arsonists.
A Channel 2 cameraman was lightly wounded by a ricochet bullet after the crew was caught in the crossfire when Palestinians opened fire at an IDF post near the Gush Katif junction. The IDF Spokesman said that the crew was taken into the IDF post until calm was restored.
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