MIDDLE EAST: Explosion kills two Palestinians in Nablus, while Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh appoints new chief of police

Record ID: 1535287

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Explosion kills two Palestinians in Nablus, while Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh appoints new chief of police
  • Date: 31st May 2007
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF BODIES IN HOSPITAL MORGUE EXTERIOR OF HOSPITAL
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2007 03:51
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: War / Fighting
  • Reuters ID: LVA1CZCCFAI17R6XIAIBJG5YQW9K
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Two Palestinians were killed and two others wounded when a car exploded in the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday (May 30), witnesses and hospital officials said.
    Officials said that both casualties were men in their 20s. Their identities were not immediately known.
    Nablus has seen frequent fighting between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops over the past 6 1/2 years of conflict. A military spokesman said he knew of no Israeli actions in Nablus at the time of the blast.
    A local security source, who asked not to be identified, said Palestinian authorities were investigating whether the blast was caused by a bomb that went off prematurely
    In Sderot, a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza strip, hit a house late on Wednesday, causing damage to the ceiling and kitchen, witnesses said.
    The five family members who were at the house at the time of the attack managed to get into their fortified room, as they heard the "Tzeva Adom" alarm, and were not harmed.
    Danny Ben-Haim, whose home was hit by the rocket, inspected the damage caused to the house minutes after the attack occurred.
    According to a Reuters cameraman, the family was later evacuated to the anxiety help centre in Sderot to receive help.
    "We heard the 'Tzeva Adom' alarm and we heard the explosion. It was far from my house. After two minutes I called my home, to see what had happened, and then I was told that there was damage caused to the house. I ran, got home right away. I saw my daughter, Ron, who had an anxiety attack, and my wife as well", Avram Romano, a neighbour of the house which was hit.
    During the past two weeks, Hamas and other militant groups have fired more than 270 rockets from Gaza, killing two Israelis.
    Earlier in Gaza City, Prime Minister Haniyeh, as he is also the minister of interior has decided, in consent with President Mahmoud Abbas, to replace the current Palestinian Authority police chief Ala Hosni, with Kamal al-Sheikh, the current governor of the West Bank city of Nablus.
    Haniyeh's aide Mohammed al-Madhoun said Hosni was promoted to the post of an aide to the minister of interior in the West Bank.
    Madhoun said the changes related to the preparations by Haniyeh to implement the security plan to restore order in the territories.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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