Israel soldier lynched after killing four in Gaza pullout row
A teenage Israeli soldier shot dead four people in a blazing row over the country's imminent withdrawal from Gaza before being lynched by furious residents of an Arab-Israeli town. The shooting, the first deadly incident connected to Israel's controversial plan to uproot all troops and settlers from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank, heightened fears about possible violence during the historic pullout. The 19-year-old religiously observant Jew, dressed in army fatigues, unleashed a volley of fire inside a bus in the northern Galilee town of Shfaram in an argument over the pullout, police said. Four Israeli Arab passengers died in the hail of bullets. The gunman was lynched by a furious crowd as hundreds flocked to the blood-smeared bus in a Druze neighbourhood of Shfaram shortly after the attack, police and witnesses said. Among the victims were two students, the driver of bus 165, which served the route between Shfaram and the main northern city of Haifa, and a local Shfaram resident. Four other passengers were also injured, two of them seriously, public television said. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon swiftly issued a statement in which he condemned the shooting as "a reprehensible act by a bloodthirsty Jewish terrorist who sought to attack innocent Israeli citizens". "This is an extremely serious incident and we have mobilised our forces to deal with any eventuality," Dan Ronen, commander of the police's northern division, said. "The gunman, Nathan Zaada (eds: correct), was a 19-year-old soldier who was originally from Rishon Le Tzion (near Tel Aviv) and had recently turned to religion," he said. Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra urged Israel's 1.2 million-strong Arab population to remain calm. "I call on you to do everything possible to enable us to carry out the disengagement plan," he said. Bentzi Lieberman, chairman of the main settler organisation Yesha, condemned the shooting and said disengagement "has led individuals to lose their head." The Palestinian Authority urged the Israeli authorities to prevent similar attacks in the context of tensions over the Gaza pullout. "The Israeli government must collect the weapons of the settlers and take steps against the settler leaders because they endanger Palestinian civilians and the general Israeli system," Samir Hileelah, secretary general of the Palestinian cabinet, told AFP. The shooting came just hours after Palestinians in Gaza celebrated the pullout -- less than two weeks before the withdrawal is due to begin. Partly to appease radical settlers, Sharon has insisted that disengagement from Gaza will be an opportunity to strengthen Israeli control over the West Bank. Israel's housing ministry said it was inviting tenders for scores of new houses south of Jerusalem, in direct contravention of the internationally drafted roadmap peace plan launched two years ago. "We have issued appeals for 72 housing units in Beitar Ilit," Kobi Bleich told AFP, adding that the project had been approved last year. "These buildings will be constructed within the existing boundaries of Beitar Ilit and will form part of Gush Etzion", a large bloc of settlements. Under the terms of the roadmap, endorsed by the government in 2003, Israel is obliged to freeze all settlement activity. The Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli expansion plan, with chief negotiator Saeb Erakat warning it "could wreck the peace process and destroy any possibility of relaunching negotiations on a final status agreement". Outside the parliament building in Gaza City, Palestinians celebrated the imminent departure of Jewish settlers from the territory after a 38-year occupation. Prime minister Ahmed Qorei told the crowd of around 10,000 people that the pullout would be the first step towards the creation of their promised state, including the whole of the West Bank with east Jerusalem as its capital. He said the dismantling of all 21 Gaza settlements and another four in the northern West Bank must be a precursor to further pullouts. "There is no way that this Israeli move can be a final move. It must be the first step," he said. As part of efforts to prevent attacks by Palestinian militant groups during the pullout, Israeli military sources said that the army had begun reinforcing its presence in Gaza. Israel has threatened to launch a massive ground offensive into the Gaza Strip should Palestinian militants open fire during the pullout. The Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" | |||
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