MIDDLE EAST: Five Palestinians, who might have been trying to get into Israel in search of work, were killed on Wednesday night when Israeli troops, who spotted them trying to cross the fence surrounding the Gaza Strip and took them for militants, fired a tank shell at them.
Two Israelis were shot dead by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank city of Hebron yesterday. The attack took place near the site where Islamic Jihad gunmen shot dead 12 Israeli soldiers and security men in mid-November.
When troops discovered the five bodies yesterday they did not find guns, knives or explosives, but only two ladders which the men apparently planned to use to climb over the border fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip. As of last night, none of the militant organisations had identified the five as members.
The army said it had received a warning of a possible attempt by militants to infiltrate Israel, which is not an uncommon occurrence. But neither are attempts to get into Israel by Palestinians desperate to find work.
Before the intifada uprising erupted more than two years ago, tens of thousands of Palestinians used to earn a living in Israel. But since the onset of violence, Israel has barred the workers from entering, fearing militants planning attacks might pose as labourers.
A sixth Palestinian was killed in Gaza early yesterday morning after troops opened fire on him and two other militants who, the army said, were trying to infiltrate a Jewish settlement. The two fled the area. The radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attempted infiltration.
Meanwhile, a Tel Aviv court ruled yesterday that Israel does have the legal right to try the West Bank leader of the Fatah-related militant Tanzim group, Marwan Barghouti, who was captured in April. Barghouti argued that Israel has no right to put him on trial because the Oslo accords afford him diplomatic immunity.