Israelis, Palestinians trade heavy gunfire

By GREG MYRE

Associated Press

JERUSALEM – Israeli combat helicopters, attempting to rescue Jewish settlers trapped on a rocky West Bank hillside, traded heavy fire with Palestinian gunmen in a five-hour shootout today. Two people died and at least 18 were wounded.

Israel’s prime minister declared it a “gross violation” of a shaky truce announced two days earlier. Both the Palestinians and the Israelis said the other side fired first.

The firefight amid the barren rocks of Mount Ebal, overlooking the West Bank town of Nablus, came on the eve of a Friday deadline imposed by both sides for ending three weeks of violence that has left more than 100 dead, the vast majority Palestinians.

One of those killed today was a Palestinian and the other was an Israeli civilian who bled to death awaiting rescue. Israelis were especially outraged that the Palestinian Authority did not force the gunmen to retreat to allow Israeli rescuers access to the wounded.

“This is a very grave incident and a gross violation by the Palestinian Authority,” Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement issued after the battle ended and the settlers were evacuated.

The wounded included 15 Palestinians and at least three Israelis, according to Palestinian doctors and Israeli security officials.

It was not immediately clear whether Israel or the Palestinians were backing away from the truce, but the shootout appeared to be a serious threat to the deal announced Tuesday at a Mideast summit in Egypt.

Trouble broke out when about 40 Jewish settlers tried to travel to the hillside to observe Joseph’s Tomb, a holy site in Nablus recently ransacked by a Palestinian mob.

The settlers came under fire from a Palestinian refugee camp, and Israeli helicopter gunships soon joined the fray in an attempt to protect some 40 settlers, including women and children, and evacuate the wounded, according to Israelis.

Two helicopters hovered, unleashing machine-gun fire on Palestinians darting for cover behind the huge stones on a mountain nicknamed the “accursed mountain” for its stark landscape. Palestinians returned antiaircraft fire, a first in the four-week conflict.

“We are engaged in a rescue operation on very difficult terrain,” Israeli Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Eitan said on Israel radio as the shooting raged. “We have deployed a large force which is firing under fire.”

Col. Raanan Gissin confirmed the army had given permission for the settlers’ outing, and said the military would investigate who exactly gave it and why. Such outings had been banned due to the violence.

The settlers were scattered across the hillside, making it difficult for the Israeli forces to reach all of those trapped. Several of the wounded Israelis could not be evacuated immediately due to the heavy Palestinian fire.

Both Israeli television stations broadcast nonstop coverage of the gunfight, running footage caught at its outbreak over and over again and maintaining phone contact with the settlers. One settler, pinned down by the gunfire, was interviewed on his cellular telephone by Israel’s Channel 2 TV.

“Under fire for five hours straight,” said Elazar Mizrahi, the staccato of automatic fire audible in the background. “There are still gunshots. Hiding. Others 30 meters (yards) from me. We came to tour the area. I’m hiding behind a rock. I can’t leave here.”

Each side offered widely differing accounts of how the battle started.

The settlers had prior army permission to climb the hill so they could observe Joseph’s Tomb, which was desecrated after Israeli troops pulled out two weeks ago. They said Palestinian gunmen opened fire, but the Palestinians claimed the settlers fired first on unarmed olive pickers.

The battle died out after dark, while Israel moved tanks and armored personnel carriers to the outskirts of Nablus. Tanks had been moved away just a day earlier in an effort to reduce tensions.

Nablus has remained extremely tense despite the military’s withdrawal from the holy site. The settlers have vowed to return to the tomb, though it is in the middle of the restive Palestinian city.

After the truce was announced in Egypt, the two sides agreed Wednesday to wait 48 hours, until around midday Friday, to determine whether it was working.

“The drop in the level of activity of the Palestinians is not enough and does not satisfy us,” Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said on Army radio. “We are halfway through the period and when it is over (Friday) we will decide what to do next.”

Ideally, if the truce holds, the Israelis are to pull back troops from the outskirts of Palestinian cities, security teams from the two sides are expected to hold additional talks, and the Palestinians are to continue working to rein in militants.

But if unrest persists, the agreement mediated by President Clinton could quickly disintegrate.

In Cairo, Egypt, a top aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Israel had so far only made minimal efforts to implement the cease-fire.

“Israel wants to kill the Palestinian people and to keep them under siege, and to put them under pressure that they could not bear,” said the aide, Nabil Shaath.

The truce was supposed to prepare the ground for a second stage – a two-week recovery program aimed at reviving negotiations on a comprehensive peace settlement.

Since the agreement, Israel has lifted the internal closure on Palestinian areas, which allowed Palestinians to resume travel between towns inside the West Bank and Gaza.

The Israelis opened border crossings to Egypt and Jordan, and trucks hauling goods again started to move between Gaza and Israel. The Palestinians were allowed to reopen their airport in Gaza after a 10-day closure.

However, Israel has yet to lift a closure between Israel and the Palestinian areas, barring tens of thousands of Palestinians from their jobs.

For their part, the Palestinians have begun to re-arrest some of the freed Islamic militants. The Palestinian leadership also issued “strict orders” to observe the truce.

Earlier today, two Palestinian policemen died in an apparent gas explosion at the Bethlehem headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s elite Force 17 unit. A Palestinian police spokesman said the explosion was an accident.

Copyright ©2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Talk to us

More in Local News

FILE - A sign hangs at a Taco Bell on May 23, 2014, in Mount Lebanon, Pa. Declaring a mission to liberate "Taco Tuesday" for all, Taco Bell asked U.S. regulators Tuesday, May 16, 2023, to force Wyoming-based Taco John's to abandon its longstanding claim to the trademark. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Hepatitis A confirmed in Taco Bell worker in Everett, Lake Stevens

The health department sent out a public alert for diners at two Taco Bells on May 22 or 23.

VOLLI’s Director of Food & Beverage Kevin Aiello outside of the business on Friday, May 19, 2023 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Coming soon to Marysville: indoor pickleball, games, drinks

“We’re very confident this will be not just a hit, but a smash hit,” says co-owner Allan Jones, who is in the fun industry.

Everett
Detectives: Unresponsive baby was exposed to fentanyl at Everett hotel

An 11-month-old boy lost consciousness Tuesday afternoon. Later, the infant and a twin sibling both tested positive for fentanyl.

Cassie Franklin (left) and Nick Harper (right)
Report: No wrongdoing in Everett mayor’s romance with deputy mayor

An attorney hired by the city found no misuse of public funds. Texts between the two last year, however, were not saved on their personal phones.

Firearm discovered by TSA officers at Paine Field Thursday morning, May 11, 2023, during routine X-ray screening at the security checkpoint. (Transportation Security Administration)
3 guns caught by TSA at Paine Field this month — all loaded

Simple travel advice: Unpack before you pack to make sure there’s not a gun in your carry-on.

Heavy traffic northbound on 1-5 in Everett, Washington on August 31, 2022.  (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
To beat the rush this Memorial Day weekend, go early or late

AAA projects busy airports, ferries and roads over the holiday weekend this year, though still below pre-pandemic counts.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Troopers: DUI crash leaves 1 in critical condition in Maltby

A drunken driver, 34, was arrested after her pickup rear-ended another truck late Tuesday, injuring a Snohomish man, 28.

Housing Hope CEO Donna Moulton raises her hand in celebration of the groundbreaking of the Housing Hope Madrona Highlands on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
$30M affordable housing project to start construction soon in Edmonds

Once built, dozens of families who are either homeless or in poverty will move in and receive social and work services.

A south-facing view of the proposed site for a new mental health facility on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, near 300th Street NW and 80th Avenue NW north of Stanwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County Council OK’s Stanwood behavioral health center

After an unsuccessful appeal to block it, the Tulalip Tribes are now on the cusp of building the 32-bed center in farmland.

Most Read