attacks amid reports that 5 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces since 2003 began, police officials said Friday, January 3.
70-year old Massoud Elon, whose body was found Thursday, January 2, was killed in an attack for which the militant Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility.
The group, which has been linked to supporters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said in a statement to Hizbollah’s al-Manar television it killed a "settler" to avenge the killing of a Palestinian.
Elon’s body was discovered in the Jordan Valley, in a place where Israelis cannot travel unless accompanied by security forces, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) News Service quoted police as saying.
ISRAELI RESPONSE
Israeli army engineers reportedly responded to the latest violence by destroying the West Bank home of Mohammed Brewesh, a detained leader of the Islamic Jihad group which spearheaded suicide bombings and gun attacks on Israelis in recent years.
Elon was apparently murdered while on his way to a Bedouin community where he regularly donated and sold clothing at a reduced price.
The Israeli man was reportedly stoned to death, although police said it was difficult to establish, as his body was almost completely incinerated.
INTIFADA CONTINUES
News about the attack came as the political chief of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) said the Intifada, or uprising, will continue if no political solution for the conflict with Israel will be found.
"We are ready to carry the olive branch in one hand and hold a gun in the other… to resist and negotiate at the same time," the ICEJ News Service quoted Farouk Kaddoumi as saying after talks with 10 Damascus based militant groups.
"Resistance and uprising are our choice so long as serious political negotiations [with Israel] are not in hand. Resistance is the correct road to attain our national goals," he added.
ARAFAT CONDEMNS ATTACKS
Analysts say Palestinian Authority Chairman Arafat has condemned suicide bombings against Israelis, for fear they would increase support for Israeli hard-liners in the run-up to Israel’s January 28 elections and damage Palestinian hopes for statehood.
However pressure is mounting on Israel to release alleged terrorists, news media reported. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners reportedly rioted at a military prison facility Thursday night, January 2, hurling objects at soldiers and police while burning mattresses.
Dozens were injured as soldiers used tear gas to quell the riot in Ofer camp, near Ramallah, where at least 700 Palestinian terror suspects are believed to be held, reporters said. The facility was established this spring shortly after Operation Defensive Shield to accommodate the Palestinians captured in West Bank raids.
HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
However the Israeli human rights group B’tselem has criticized Israel for holding Palestinians indefinitely, without charges or trial. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) defended the decision to hold over one thousand Palestinians in several facilities without trial.
It said the actions were needed to fight terrorism and that the "number of administrative detentions is the result of the volume of terror activity that the military and the State of Israel is up against."
The Palestinians obtained self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza under interim deals in 1994-95 but negotiations on a state broke down in mid-2000, sparking the uprising in which at least 1,760 Palestinians and 676 Israelis have been killed.
