Israeli troops killed two Palestinian fighters in an exchange of gunfire late Thursday night north of the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
The Palestinians were holed up in a house in the village of Atil. After refusing to surrender, the Israeli troops stormed into the house, and killed the two men. Another Palestinian was wounded and arrested in the incident. Israel claimed the three were Hamas members.
Meanwhile, Danny Ayalon, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, promised swift regarding the unauthorized settler outposts in the West Bank. "We are going to remove unauthorized posts starting two or three days from now," Ayalon said in a CNN interview. "We are taking concrete steps. Israel is going to dismantle them all. It's going to do it in a phased-out manner."
Palestinian leaders, however, doubted Israel's commitment to remove dozens of unauthorized outposts in the West Bank. Ayalon added that the larger question of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza that have been authorized by the Israeli government "is a political issue, which will be dealt with according to agreements and understandings" in the peace plan. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
