Israel distorts bodies of killed Palestinians
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 8/23/2001

Four Palestinians were killed on Wednesday morning in clashes between the Palestinian Intifada youth and the Israeli forces to the northern west of Nablus in the West Bank.

A Palestinian source said that the bodies of three of the said Palestinians were identified, killed by the Israeli bullets. They are: Zaher Ismael (30 year old), Fadi Sama'neh ( 25 year old) Hakam Tayeh ( 22 year old) while the body of the fourth Aed Fares ( 23 year old) was kept by the Israeli soldiers.

The governor of Nablus Mahmoud al-Alloul said that the three Palestinians were killed when they were among a group of citizens of Beit Eiba village to the West of Nablus trying to pull back a Palestinian wounded by the Israeli bullet.

The Israeli radio admitted this new massacre, claiming that the four killed Palestinians exchanged fire with members of an Israeli patrol near Shafi Shamroun settlement while Palestinian sources said that the Israeli forces deformed the bodies of the three Palestinians in a way it is very difficult to identify them and also opened fire at ambulances that tried to pull back their bodies.

A statement by the Palestinian security said that the Israeli soldiers who had incurred inside Beitonia town kidnapped the bodies of the four Palestinian who were still alive and killed them and deformed the upper parts of their bodies and hatched their heads and then threw three of them on the road.

Thousands of Palestinians in Nablus held a funeral for their " martyrs" and threatened to retaliate to the brutal Israeli practices.

Meantime six Palestinians were at least wounded when the Israeli forces fired ground- to ground missiles at a position for the Palestinian police near Khan Younis Camp. The Palestinian Bilal Yahya al-Ghoul was killed by the fire of the Israeli helicopter in Gaza.

On Wednesday evening one Palestinian was also killed in Rafah and Palestinian medical sources said that Mahmoud Jaser ( 23 year old) was fatally hit in his chest.

Near Niveodotan settlement in Jenin, two Israeli settlers were wounded in the clashes which erupted between the Palestinian Intifada youths and the Israeli soldiers, while an explosive went off near the headquarters of the Israeli army leadership in Jenin, the Israeli radio claimed resulted in no casualties.

Earlier five Palestinians were seriously wounded when they were attacked by an Israeli barrier near Beitonia village.

At the Palestinian level, the founder of the Hamas movement Sheikh Ahmad Yassin warned that any aggression against families of the Palestinians who carry out suicide attacks will be a green light to retaliate these Israeli practices by counter force.

In an interview with the Spanish ABC paper Yassin stressed that these Israeli threats once again disclose the brutality of the Israeli government.

Meantime, the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon threatened to take more aggressive measures against the Palestinians. This was expressed in a message conveyed by the German foreign minister Yushka Fischer to the chairman of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat during his meeting with Arafat in Ramullah.

The Israeli radio said that Sharon threatened that Israel will not bear, from now on, what the radio called opening fire from the Palestinian areas at Jerusalem.

The radio added that Fischer conveyed to Sharon what Arafat told him that the Palestinian Authority gave Israel information about the Palestinians who enter Israel to carry out operation in order to enable Israel arresting them.

For his part, the Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres said he will hold talks with Arafat on what he called halting cease fire but refused to disclose the place and time of these talks.

Peres who arrived in Warsaw on Wednesday said he will be meeting with Arafat very soon but the date of this meeting has not fixed yet. Following Fischer's mediation it was announced that a meeting will be held between Arafat and Peres in Berlin.

In Washington, the US has welcomed holding talks between the Palestinian and Israeli sides in Germany. The deputy spokesman for the US state department Philip Recker said that Washington will support any means bringing together the two sides and will back direct contacts between them and any efforts they want to make.

Recker also stressed that the US opposes the policy of assassination carried out by Israel against the Palestinians, adding that Washington will continue to urge Israel to give up such a policy.

Previous Stories:
  Sharon's government continues escalation, 200 million Shekels for settlement   (8/22/2001)
  One Palestinian, his two children killed by Israeli missiles   (8/21/2001)
  Al-Ghajar village citizens demonstrate in protest of Israeli practices   (8/21/2001)

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