Israeli Missile Hits Terrorist in Gaza Strip

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The New York Sun

JERUSALEM – Israelis killed seven Palestinians in attacks yesterday, including a Gaza air-strike that killed one terrorist and wounded a terrorist group commander, who vowed revenge from his hospital bed.


The Gaza attack came as each side pummels the other in the run-up to Israel’s planned pullout from the crowded seaside territory next year.


An Israeli helicopter fired a missile at a car east of the city of Khan Younis, killing Ali al-Shaer, a member of the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella organization of dissidents from several terrorist groups.


But Israeli military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the target was the other occupant of the car – Mohammed Abu Nasira, southern Gaza commander of the group.


“The (Israeli) crimes will not pass without punishment,” Mr. Abu Nasira told The Associated Press by telephone from the hospital, where he was being treated for serious burns. “I will continue my mission to terrorize the enemy, and we will win the battle.”


Hundreds of people gathered around the white vehicle after the missile blast burned the passenger compartment, twisting the chassis but leaving the front half intact.


An Israeli military statement said only that the raid targeted “a vehicle carrying a senior operative” responsible for many attacks.


The Popular Resistance group was behind explosions that destroyed two Israeli tanks and is thought by some to have been involved in a similar blast that destroyed a vehicle in an American Embassy convoy a year ago, killing three security guards.


Israel plans to pull its 8,200 settlers out of Gaza late next year, and Palestinian terrorists want to show that they are driving the Israelis out by force. Israel is determined to keep hitting the militants to deter them from attacking after the withdrawal.


At nightfall, Palestinian gunmen kidnapped a producer for the TV network CNN, said the network’s correspondent, Ben Wedeman. In a CNN broadcast from Gaza, Mr. Wedeman said the gunmen stopped a CNN van and extracted Riad Ali.


Mr. Wedeman, who said he was also in the van, did not know why Mr. Ali was kidnapped, and CNN was trying to win his release. In a statement, the network said, “We have not heard from Ali’s abductors but urge them to release Riad immediately.”


Palestinian militant groups denied involvement. A statement on a Hamas Web site called for Mr. Ali’s release, saying that journalists “are playing an important role to help the Palestinian cause.”


After the kidnapping, the Israeli military closed the main crossing from Israel into Gaza, used by Palestinians, diplomats, and reporters, “following security assessments and security alerts.” The military would not say if the decision was tied to the kidnapping.


In recent months, there have been several kidnappings in the West Bank and Gaza as the authority of Yasser Arafat’s police wanes. Up to now, however, foreign correspondents and their crews have rarely been bothered by Palestinian terrorists.


Earlier yesterday in Gaza, Israeli soldiers fired machine guns at the Khan Younis refugee camp, killing a 55-year-old civilian standing at a school gate, Palestinian security officials said.


The military said the only known shooting there was aimed at a Palestinian who appeared to be planting a bomb. In the Rafah camp, Palestinians said four children were wounded by Israeli gunfire.


The New York Sun

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