ISRAEL KILLED 2 WOULD BE SUICIDE BOMBERS

[Gość: IZRAEL]

Last Update: 26/06/2003 19:21

2 militants killed in north; Israeli shot dead by Palestinian

By David Ratner, Tsahar Rotem and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents and
Haaretz Service



Two Palestinian would-be suicide bombers were shot
dead Thursday afternoon by Israeli security forces
near Baka al-Garbiyeh, only hours after a
Palestinian teenager shot dead an Israeli in the
northern village, situated close to the Green Line
border.




Police sources said that members
of a special police unit shot
the two, who were carrying
explosives devices, and
arrested two others, apparently
the would-be bombers' handlers,
at the Kalaniyot Junction, west
of the village.

Amit (Amos) Mantin, 31, from

Hadera, a technician for the Bezeq
telecommunications company, was shot dead by a
15-year-old Palestinian while traveling with a
Bezeq crew in the center of the village. The
gunman approached their vehicle, opened fire
and fled. Martin was critically injured and
later died of his wounds.

Mantin was laid to rest Thursday evening at
Hadera cemetery.

The gunman, who was shot and wounded by a Bezeq
security guard who chased him, was detained by
security forces who arrived at the scene
shortly after the attack. He was evacuated in
serious condition to hospital where he
underwent surgery.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs` Brigades, which is linked
to Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed
responsibility for the attack, Israel Radio
reported.

The shooting took place amid reports that the
militant Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah
organizations would announce an agreement later
Thursday to halt all attacks on Israelis for
three months, both in the territories and in
Israel.

Two Qassams fired at Sderot
Earlier Thursday morning, two Qassam rockets
fired from the Gaza Strip landed next to the
southern town of Sderot. One of the rockets hit
a field belonging to Kibbutz Nir Am, but did
not detonate.

Overnight Wednesday, five mortar shells were
fired at settlements in the Gush Katif bloc in
the Gaza Strip. There were no injuries.

On Wednesday, Hamas vowed to avenge an Israeli
strike in the southern Gaza city of Kahn Yunis,
in which missiles fired by helicopters at two
cars killed two people, including a woman.

The Israel Defense Forces said the helicopters
fired the missiles at a Hamas cell that was
about to fire mortar shells at an Israeli
settlement. The attack came minutes after
Palestinian officials announced that Hamas and
other militant groups had agreed to a
three-month halt to attacks against Israelis.