Two Palestinian children were killed on Monday in an Israeli Apache attack that targeted a senior member of the Islamic Jihad resistance group.
A four-year-old Palestinian baby was killed Monday afternoon in an attempt by Israeli troops to assassinate an Islamic Jihad activist in the West Bank town of Hebron, according to Haaretz newspaper.
The toddler, whose name was not immediately released, was killed along with Shadi Arafa, 11, when Israeli helicopters circling the city fired the rockets, according to AFP.
The Israeli daily cited Palestinian sources as saying that Israeli Air Force Apache helicopters fired missiles at a car belonging to Mohammed Sider, one of the heads of the Islamic Jihad military wing.
According to preliminary reports the baby was traveling in the car when it was hit. Seven people were injured in the attack, including Sider, who was seriously injured. Sider, his parents and his son were in the car, and three people were injured in another car traveling close to it. Israeli military sources declined to respond to the report when contacted by the Tel Aviv-based paper.
The attempt to assassinate the Palestinian activist came two weeks and half after Israel killed senior Hamas activist Mahmoud Abu Hannoud near Nablus on November 23.
The operation came as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer were making intensive efforts to try to dissuade Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni from abandoning his truce mission, which he threatened unless calm is restored in 48 hours – Albawaba.com
