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November 19, 2000
PA pledges probe after soldier killed. Attack comes despite Arafat's 'don't shoot' order; IDF threatens retaliation.
MARGOT DUDKEVITCH LAMIA LAHOUD
Golani St.-Sgt. Baruch (Snir) Flum, 21, of Tel Aviv was killed yesterday morning and two other soldiers were wounded, one critically, by a senior Palestinian Preventive Security Service officer who infiltrated Kfar Darom and shot them at close range before being killed by the soldiers.
The Fatah Hawks claimed responsibility for the attack, which senior IDF officers said had been well planned, including assistance by intelligence reports.
The assailant, Baha Said, 30, from the Maghazi refugee camp, was a member of the PPSS headed by Mohammad Dahlan. He was buried yesterday in Gaza.
The attack occurred less than 24 hours after Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat called on Palestinians to refrain from perpetrating attacks from areas under Palestinian control.
'We are exerting every effort to prevent any element from firing from [Palestinian controlled areas], Arafat said on Friday in broadcasts on Palestinian radio and television. 'Orders have been issued regarding this by the Palestinian National Security Council.'
OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yomtov Samiya reported an increase in shooting incidents despite Arafat's calls.
'In recent weeks there is a feeling of an escalation in the number of shooting incidents. We have had to face 12 to 20 shooting incidents each night,' he said. 'We dealt with 15 incidents in the region [yesterday] and unfortunately the Palestinians succeeded in killing one of our soldiers,' he said.
Said had dug under a fence surrounding Kfar Darom's hothouses at about 5:30 a.m. and approached the guard post where Flum had left to wake up another soldier to begin another shift. Said shot and killed Flum before other Golani soldiers could return fire. Before he died, Said managed to fire another burst of bullets that wounded the two other soldiers.
The two wounded soldiers were airlifted to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba. St.-Sgt. Sharon Shitoubi, who was shot in the head, was in critical condition last night.
The second soldier was listed in satisfactory condition with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Soldiers found documents on Said's body identifying him as a Palestinian officer. His body was later transferred to the PA via the local district coordinating office. 'It is clear to us that he did not operate alone, but an organization of some kind sent him. He was armed and had obviously been well prepared. It is the same security heads who, on the one hand, declare a cease-fire and on the other, send their officers to perpetrate attacks,' Gaza district commander Brig.-Gen. Yair Naveh said.
Palestinian security sources said Said acted as a member of Fatah, not the security forces. A senior Israeli officer said the Palestinian police had said Said was acting on his own.
During his funeral yesterday, masked, armed Fatah Hawks vowed more violence.
'Fatah and the Fatah Hawks will not forget the blood of the martyrs,' an announcer said over a loudspeaker at a tumultuous funeral for the security agent. 'The Fatah Hawks today raided the settlement of Kfar Darom. They killed and wounded several Jews.'
A statement distributed in the Maghazi refugee camp said: 'The Fatah movement mourns with pride and honor its martyred hero, hero of the Fatah Hawks, hero of the Preventive Security Service, hero of the Palestinian people, Captain Baha Said, who was martyred while holding his rifle against the Zionists.'
Hussein Sheikh, a Fatah leader in the West Bank, said the attack was legitimate, since it was carried out in an area still under Israeli security control.
Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti said Palestinians would block roads to and from settlements and prevent the presence of settlers and soldiers on Palestinian lands. He said demonstrations would continue inside area A, but without gunfire.
Samiya warned the IDF will pursue the heads of Palestinian security organizations responsible for coordinating the attacks. Fearing a reprisal, the Palestinian Authority declared it had launched an investigation into the incident and urged Israel not to respond to the attack.
The IDF Spokesman denied PA claims that in response to yesterday's attack, helicopters shelled the Force 17 headquarters in Khan Yunis. Palestinians claim four were injured in a blast, however Israeli officials said they believed the explosion was caused by ammunition within the building.
In other incidents over the weekend: Soldiers exchanged shots with Palestinian forces in Neveh Dekalim last night; shots were fired throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well IDF posts along the Egyptian border; soldiers came under fire in Hebron Friday night; and yesterday morning, soldiers discovered two bombs in the Gaza area that terrorists apparently had left behind.
Four Palestinians were killed in clashes over the weekend, including a Jordanian citizen who was visiting Kalkilya. On Friday, one Israeli motorist was lightly wounded by stones near Ariel, and a soldier was shot in the hand near the Karni crossing.
Friday morning, soldiers shot and killed two Palestinian policemen under the command of Haj Ismail, who had been responsible for the recent gunfire at nearby Vered Yeriho. In Gaza, the IDF foiled two attempted terror attacks, one at Morag and another north of the Kissufim.
In Memoriam
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