forces killed three wanted key Palestinian militants during clashes near the West Bank town of Jenin.
Among those killed was 35-year old Samir Ahmad Abdallah Sa’adi and Nidal Mahmad Ibrahim Halaf, 35, described as "wanted terrorists" for "involvement in shooting attacks against Israel Defense Forces in the area of Jenin," the Israeli military said.
The other killed man who was Samir Yichya Tsaber Shalabi, 25, "a wanted Islamic Jihad collaborator who had been involved in numerous shooting attacks," the IDF added in a statement monitored by BosNewsLife.
It came shortly after Israel’s military warned it may bombard the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, if necessary, to stop Palestinian rocket fire into Israel. The militants have been firing rockets from the area, despite earlier pledges to stop such attacks, several news reports said.
HAMAS ATTACKS
In remarks to BosNewsLife, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it was also concerned over attacks by the militant Hamas organization after Israeli security officials announced Monday, September 26, that Jerusalem businessman Sasson Nuriel "was kidnapped and slain by a Hamas terrorist cell" last week.
"His bound body was found in Beitunya, near Ramallah. Nuriel, 50, was the owner of a candy factory in the Mishor Adumim industrial zone near the capital," the Ministry said.
"The participation of Hamas in the [upcoming Palestinian] elections would be nothing more than a bid by this group of Islamist extremists to seize power from moderate Palestinians who are interested in coexistence with Israel. It would be an abuse of democracy, in order to promote terrorism and violence as political tools," the ministry warned.
US CONCERN
In Washington, a State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been pressing both sides to end the violence, the Voice Of America (VOA) network reported. President George W. Bush was to meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the White House next month for talks on peace efforts
However in a statement to BosNewsLife. the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, a group of Christians supporting Israel and helping evacuated Jewish settlers, said that increased Israeli security precautions, "and the completion of significant sections" of the security fence "contributed to a falling casualty rate."
It claimed that of "1,061 Israelis killed in the past five years, only 57 died in terrorist related attacks in the past twelve months." (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Israel and Washington).
