VARIOUS: ISREALI, PALESTINIAN, HAMAS OFFICIALS ALL CONDEMN SHOOTING ATTACK IN NORTHERN ISREAL.
Record ID:
324552
VARIOUS: ISREALI, PALESTINIAN, HAMAS OFFICIALS ALL CONDEMN SHOOTING ATTACK IN NORTHERN ISREAL.
- Title: VARIOUS: ISREALI, PALESTINIAN, HAMAS OFFICIALS ALL CONDEMN SHOOTING ATTACK IN NORTHERN ISREAL.
- Date: 5th August 2005
- Summary: (W4) SHFARAM, NORTHERN ISRAEL (AUGUST 4, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (AS 10435/05) 1. BUS DISPLAY WITH NUMBER 165 2. HELICOPTER OVERHEAD 3. NUMBER 165 ON BUS 4. ISRAELI SOLDIERS INSIDE BUS 5. BROKEN WINDOW OF BUS 6. INTERIOR OF BUS 7. BLOOD AND SHOE ON SEAT 8. POLICE OUTSIDE BUS 1.28 (W4) JERUSALEM (AUGUST 4, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 9. GV: ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER SPOKESMAN HIGAL SALMOR SPEAKING TO JOURNALIST 1.31 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SALMOR SAYING: "This is a horrendous murder of the worst kind. We are speaking here about an act of terror committed by a murderer whose sole purpose was to kill innocent civilians. Nothing in the world can justify this crime. The Prime Minister has condemned it in the harshest terms and he has sent his condolences and on behalf of the people of the government of Israel to the innocent civilians who have been murdered and injured and also to the bereaved families. At this point in time we all stand united with the bereaved families, with the people of Shfaram. We are united in condemning in the harshest of ways this totally unjustified and monstrous murder. Terror is terror. A terrorist is a terrorist. He should be treated as such and I'm sure the police force and the security forces will do whatever is needed to prevent these things from happening again." 2.30 (W4) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (AUGUST 4, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 11. GV: PALESTINIAN MINISTER OF PLANNING GHASSAN AL-KHATIB SPEAKING TO JOURNALIST 2.34 12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) AL-KHATIB SAYING: "This barbaric incident in which an Israeli soldier opened fire at a crowd of people just because they are Arabs and Palestinians is a reflection of the racist education that is filling the Israeli society against Arabs and Palestinians. We hope that the Israeli people will realise how dangerous the situation within the Israeli society is and take the necessary measures to bring to justice not only the soldier but all the Israeli soldiers who have been involved in all kinds of crimes against Palestinians because they are Palestinians." 3.24 (W4) GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP (AUGUST 4, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 13. GV: HAMAS SPOKESMAN MUSHIR AL-MASRI WALKING TOWARDS CAMERA 3.31 14. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AL-MASRI SAYING: "This is a new Zionist crime that is added to the series of Zionist crimes which are being carried out against our Palestinian people everyday and every night, which shows the condescending behaviour of the Zionist enemy and the bloody state of mind which drives this murderer. We assure you that Hamas and the Palestinian people will not stand with their hands tied while in return the Zionist enemy is risking the lives of the soldiers and settlers by freeing their hands to shed Palestinian blood everywhere which goes against the Cairo agreements. The Zionist enemy up to this moment has not been committed to implementing it (the ceasefire). It is the right of all the Palestinians factions and people to react to these Zionist crimes because the Palestinian blood is one blood and the Palestinian people are one people and we will not allow anybody to continue violations against our people." 4.42 15. GV: AL-MASRI STANDING IN ROAD 4.45 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 20th August 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SHFARAM, NORTHERN ISRAEL / JERUSALEM / RAMALLAH, WEST BANK / GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Reuters ID: LVA2T7YFGUOCG0YXG2WKWS3DO12Z
- Story Text: Israeli and Palestinian officials as well as Hamas
condemn shooting attack in northern Israel.
A Jewish settler shot dead four people aboard a bus
in an Israeli Arab town on Thursday (August 4) in what
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called an attack by a
"bloodthirsty terrorist" ahead of a planned Gaza pullout.
After the shooting, the attacker, dressed in army
uniform and the skullcap of a religious Jew, was beaten to
death by residents of the town of Shfaram, who stormed the
bus and smashed the windows.
Security agencies had warned that Jewish militants who
oppose the withdrawal from Gaza settlements, due to start
in two weeks, could attack Palestinians to fire up conflict
in a bid to wreck Sharon's plan.
Sharon called it "a sinful act by a bloodthirsty
terrorist."
"This terror incident is a deliberate attempt to harm
the relations between the citizens of Israel. Terror
between civilians is the most dangerous thing for the
future of Israel and its democratic stability," his office
said in a statement.
Israeli Foreign Minister Spokesman Higal Salmor
condemned the attack too.
"This is a horrendous murder of the worst kind. We are
speaking here about an act of terror committed by a
murderer whose sole purpose was to kill innocent civilians.
Nothing in the world can justify this crime. The Prime
Minister has condemned it in the harshest terms and he has
sent his condolences and on behalf of the people of the
government of Israel to the innocent civilians who have
been murdered and injured and also to the bereaved
families. At this point in time we all stand united with
the bereaved families, with the people of Shfaram," he said.
"We are united in condemning in the harshest of ways
this totally unjustified and monstrous murder. Terror is
terror. A terrorist is a terrorist. He should be treated as
such and I'm sure the police force and the security forces
will do whatever is needed to prevent these things from
happening again," Salmor added.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian Planning
Minister Ghassan Al-Khatib said the attack reflected a
"dangerous situation" among Israelis.
"This barbaric incident in which an Israeli soldier
opened fire at a crowd of people just because they are
Arabs and Palestinians is a reflection of the racist
education that is filling the Israeli society against Arabs
and Palestinians. We hope that the Israeli people will
realise how dangerous the situation within the Israeli
society is and take the necessary measures to bring to
justice not only the soldier but all the Israeli soldiers
who have been involved in all kinds of crimes against
Palestinians because they are Palestinians," Al-Khatib said.
Police said the gunman was a West Bank settler who had
left his unit after refusing to take part in helping the
evacuations.
At least 22 people, all but seven of them Arabs, were
hurt in the shooting and the ensuing fracas.
The government has accused some ultranationalists of
trying to incite violence ahead of the plan to remove 9,000
settlers from Gaza and a corner of the West Bank, the first
time Israel will uproot settlements from land Palestinians
want for a state.
In Gaza City Hamas's spokesman Mushir Al-Masri said the
attack showed that the "Zionist enemy" was not committed to
a ceasefire with Palestinians.
"This is a new Zionist crime that is added to the
series of Zionist crimes which are being carried out
against our Palestinian people everyday and every night,
which shows the condescending behaviour of the Zionist
enemy and the bloody state of mind which drives this
murderer. We assure you that Hamas and the Palestinian
people will not stand with their hands tied while in return
the Zionist enemy is risking the lives of the soldiers and
settlers by freeing their hands to shed Palestinian blood
everywhere which goes against the Cairo agreements. The Zionist enemy
u
p to this moment has not been committed to
implementing it (the ceasefire). It is the right of all the
Palestinians factions and people to react to these Zionist
crimes because the Palestinian blood is one blood and the
Palestinian people are one people and we will not allow
anybody to continue violations against our people,"
Al-Musri said.
Mainstream settler leaders, who have vowed peaceful
resistance, condemned the attack.
Forces were called to the north to try to prevent
further violence. Some of those who headed towards Shfaram
had been stationed outside Gaza to try to prevent marchers
from infiltrating settlements to disrupt the pullout.
Arabs make up about one fifth of Israel's population.
In the worst attack by a settler on Arabs, in 1994,
Baruch Goldstein shot dead 29 Muslim worshippers in the
West Bank city of Hebron. He aimed to derail interim peace
accords with the Palestinians.
Sharon says the Gaza withdrawal plan aims at
"disengaging" from conflict with the Palestinians.
Opponents say it gives up a biblical claim to the land
captured in the 1967 war and rewards militants behind
attacks in an uprising since 2000.
Polls show most Israelis back Sharon's plan.
Palestinians welcome the pullout, touted by the United
States as a possible step to peacemaking, but fear it is a
ruse for Israel to strengthen its hold on the much bigger
West Bank settlements.
In a new move condemned by the Palestinian Authority,
Israel revealed plans to build 72 housing units in the
Jewish settlement of Betar Ilit, near the West Bank city of
Bethlehem.
Sharon has said Israel must part with Gaza, where 8,500
settlers live sealed off from 1.4 million Palestinians, for
the Jewish state's own security and because it has no
chance of keeping it in any future peace deal.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None