It is the second time a Jewish terrorist kills Palestinians in cold blood in two weeks. (Reuters)
OCCUPIED Jerusalem, August 18, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli troops continued Thursday, August 18, forced evictions of hardcore settlers from Gaza Strip, hours after a West Bank settler went on a shooting spree, killing four Palestinians in cold blood, prompting Israel's Prime Minister to call it "Jewish terrorism".
The four Palestinians, employed at the Shilo settlement industrial zone in the northern West Bank, were killed by a settler from a nearby enclave who wrested a weapon from a security guard at knife point, security sources said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Another Palestinian was injured in the hail of bullets, according to Israeli medical sources.
The 40-year-old married father of two grabbed the guard's gun, rammed down his finger on the trigger and killed two victims sitting in his car, the sources said.
Asher Weisgan then opened fire at a group of Palestinian workers in the Shilo industrial zone, killing one and wounding two others. One of the wounded later died from his injuries in a Jerusalem hospital, an official said.
Israeli ambulances and helicopters were scrambled to evacuate the wounded and dead, later named as Mohammed Mansur, Bassam Tawafsheh, his brother Wissam, Khalil Walwil, all from villages in the northern West Bank.
Weisgan had been a driver collecting and dropping off Palestinian workers.
The cold-blooded crime came less than a fortnight after another Israeli terrorist went on a shooting rampage, killing four Israeli Arabs and wounding 22 others on a bus before being lynched by a furious crowd.
An Israeli soldier, wearing a military uniform and the skullcap of a religious Jew, emptied his rifle in bus passengers of Israeli Arabs in the northern town of Shfaram late Thursday, August 4.
Condemnation
Sharon branded the shootings an act of "Jewish terrorism".
The crime was slammed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as Jewish terrorism aimed at impeding pullout from Gaza Strip, vowing to go on with his plan though.
Sharon branded the shootings an act of "Jewish terrorism... carried out with the depraved idea that it can stop disengagement," his office said in a statement.
The Palestinian Authority agreed with Sharon as regards the goal of the grisly crime.
It immediately condemned the shootings, with president Mahmoud Abbas appealing for "restraint" to avoid any flare-up that could delay Israel's pullout from Gaza.
"This crime is an attempt to sabotage the Gaza pullout," said Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina.
But Palestinian resistance factions were furious, with Hamas vowing to avenge the killings.
"This odious crime cannot go unpunished. The resistance will not sit with its arms crossed and the Zionist enemy must face the consequences," it said, according to AFP.
Mohammed Al-Hindi, a leader of Islamic Jihad, also said his resistance movement "reserved the right" to respond to the shootings.
A mortar shell was fired at an Israeli army position in southern Gaza where troops had evacuated settlers, according to Israeli military sources, without reporting casualties.
Evictions Continue
Settlers were dragged kicking and screaming from their homes. (Reuters)
In Gaza, Israeli forces were set for a showdown Thursday with the final hardcore of Gaza Strip settlers, surrounding synagogues where thousands of extremist Jews had taken refuge.
As the Jewish country struggled to absorb the traumatic impact of ending its 38-year occupation of Gaza, Israelis were united in praise for the role of the army and police tasked with expelling fellow Jews from their homes, AFP said.
Settlers were dragged kicking and screaming from their homes Wednesday, the first day of the forcible evacuation of the 21 Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Some shredded their clothes in a sign of mourning and one woman even set herself ablaze in protest at the historic pullout from Palestinian land.
The withdrawal is being completed more quickly than expected, with up to nine settlements reported empty, and officials said the evacuation could be wrapped up within a week "barring unforeseen circumstances".
After evacuating at least five settlements Thursday, Israeli forces backed by bulldozers rolled into the Kfar Darom settlement after dawn Thursday, seen as one of the most defiant settler bastions.
Many of the residents headed straight to the settlement's synagogue, taking refuge both inside and on the roof, an AFP correspondent said.
Troops, who were bombarded with appeals to refuse their orders, waited impassively outside the building while prayers were said inside.
Military sources said Kfar Darom was one of seven settlements to be evacuated in the course of Thursday along with Netzarim, Shihat Hayam, Gan Or, Atsmona, Slav and Rafiah Yam.
At the largest settlement of Neve Dekalim, up to 2,000 settlers and supporters were believed to have taken refuge in a synagogue complex.
The complex, which houses an Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Yemenite synagogue, was completely surrounded by more than 1,000 members of the security forces.
Hundreds of youths were massed on the roof and the balconies of the synagogue, waving flags and banners protesting at Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip.
Regional police commander, Roni Ohana, said that 1,500 soldiers and police were ready to move in to the synagogue when the order is given.
Islamonline