Associated Press
AFULA, Israel – Two Palestinians sprayed a bus station and open-air market with gunfire Tuesday, killing two Israelis and wounding 14 others before being shot to death. Two U.S. envoys witnessed the immediate aftermath of the attack from the air, flying over Afula in a helicopter tour narrated by Israel’s prime minister.
A 23-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman were killed, and 14 other Israelis were wounded, including four who were in serious condition, hospital officials said. Many of the wounded were given first aid while lying on the pavement. One woman, apparently a passerby, wiped the face of a wounded Israeli soldier.
Later, a Palestinian attacker in Gaza fired at a car and killed an Israeli woman, the military said. Three other Israelis, including a baby, were wounded. Israeli soldiers shot and killed the gunman, Palestinan security and Israeli military sources said.
An Israeli army spokesman said the attacker fired at a convoy and threw grenades. In a faxed message to The Associated Press, the militant Hamas organization took responsibility.
One of the American mediators, retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, said the bloodshed underscored the need for a truce after 14 months of fighting. “A cease-fire is what we need to get to something more comprehensive and lasting,” he said.
Two Palestinian groups – Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Brigades linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement – claimed responsibility for what they said was a joint attack to avenge the targeted killings of Palestinians.
Tuesday’s shooting came on the first full day of a new truce mission by Zinni and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns. After the helicopter tour with Sharon, meant to illustrate Israel’s security concerns, the envoys met with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Today, Burns and Zinni are to hold talks with Arafat.
After several failed truce efforts, the mediators face a hard task. Both sides say they are willing to commit to a cease-fire, but each accuses the other of being the aggressor who must take the first step.
“There is no compromising with terrorism,” Sharon said Tuesday. “As long as there is terrorism, we can’t reach the peace agreement we all want.”
Sharon insists on a week without Palestinian attacks before Israel carries out its obligations under a U.S.-backed truce brokered earlier this year, including pulling back troops, lifting blockades of Palestinian communities and halting Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
At a meeting with the mediators, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said, “Israel cannot be expected to sit down to negotiations while we are going to funerals.” The remarks were in a statement issued by his office.
Palestinian officials said Sharon’s condition is a ploy to get out of keeping his commitments, and that Sharon is responsible for growing tensions.
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