- Title: WEST BANK: Israeli raid kills four militants in West Bank
- Date: 13th March 2008
- Summary: (BN13) BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (MARCH 12, 2008) (REUTERS) WIDE OF DAMAGED VEHICLE CARRYING GUNMEN KILLED BY ISRAELI FORCES, BLEEDING BODY OF MILITANT LYING IN STREET MAN RUNNING TOWARDS DAMAGED CAR, EXAMINING BODIES VARIOUS OF BODY INSIDE CAR PASSENGER SEAT MEN CARRYING BODY OUT OF VEHICLE, MORE OF BODIES IN DAMAGED VEHICLE MEN CARRYING ANOTHER BODY OUT OF CAR VIEW OF BULLET RIDDLED CAR, MEN PERFORMING ARTIFICIAL RESUSCITATION ON BODY MAN COVERING HEAD OF BODY IN CAR VARIOUS OF CROWD AT SITE, AMBULANCE VARIOUS OF BODY BEING CARRIED INTO AMBULANCE MAN CRYING AND SHOUTING CROWD GATHERED AT SITE BLOOD STAINS ON GROUND WIDE OF CROWD AT SITE
- Embargoed: 28th March 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Defence / Military
- Reuters ID: LVA8FXIKXX1SPOQLSWMXDSM767M7
- Story Text: Israeli forces shoot dead four Palestinian gunmen during a West Bank raid.
Israeli forces killed four Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday (March 12), hours after Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, set out terms for a comprehensive ceasefire with the Jewish state.
A source in Islamic Jihad, which lost three members, including a local leader, in the Bethlehem raid, vowed revenge and charged: "The Zionist enemy has no interest in calm."
Islamic Jihad is among militant groups that powerbroker Egypt had hoped to coax into holding rocket fire from Gaza in a bid to bolster U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Western-backed Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.
Witnesses said a team of Israeli commandos disguised as locals and riding in a taxi with Palestinian licence plates drove up to a car full of militants and sprayed it with bullets.
At the scene three dead men were seen, sprawled out and bloody in the shattered vehicle. Another man lay on the tarmac as Palestinian passersby tried in vain to revive him.
The Israeli military confirmed carrying out the raid, saying its forces intended to carry out arrests but opened fire after seeing that three of the militants had assault rifles.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the three Islamic Jihad members "took part in terrorist attacks in which there were many Israeli casualties".
Palestinian officials identified one of the Islamic Jihad dead as the group's local leader. The fourth militant belonged to al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Abbas's Fatah. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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