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Israelis opened fire in coffee shop { October 3 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/10/03/international1020EDT0561.DTLhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/10/03/international1020EDT0561.DTL
Israeli troops seeking fugitives open fire inside coffee shop, Palestinians say
JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writer
Friday, October 3, 2003
©2003 Associated Press
(10-03) 07:20 PDT JERUSALEM (AP) --
Israeli troops hunting fugitives fired at a West Bank coffee shop Friday, wounding three men and arresting more than a dozen but failing to catch suspects, Palestinian officials said.
The army said soldiers fired at three men who ignored orders to halt, but did not shoot into the coffee shop. An Associated Press reporter, however, counted eight bullet holes in the windows of the shop and 11 inside, and saw glass shards on the floor.
The raid came as Israeli security officials debated a change in tactics, including holding cease-fire talks once incoming Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia forms his Cabinet next week.
Israel's position has been to keep up strikes against Palestinian militants and not negotiate a truce unless Palestinian security forces begin disarming and arresting militants.
In a Gaza refugee camp, about 3,000 people turned out Friday for a rally by the Islamic militant Hamas group. Young men in black masks marched carrying cardboard models of rockets and wore mock bomb belts made of wood. Some burned Israeli and American flags.
A senior Palestinian official, meanwhile, said Yasser Arafat has agreed to relinquish some control over security forces and boost the authority of Qureia's designated interior minister, Gen. Nasser Yousef. Such a step would be in line with long-standing Israeli and U.S. demands that the Palestinians unite security forces under one command.
Friday's raid took place in Qabatiyeh, a town in the northern West Bank.
The coffee shop was filled with men playing cards when about a dozen jeeps pulled up and soldiers jumped out, said Nasser Zakarneh, 30, who owns a shop next door. He said soldiers opened fire at the coffee shop and also inside.
Two electricians working in the coffee shop ran outside when they heard the gunfire and were about 40 yards away when soldiers shot them, Zakarneh said. A third man was shot about 20 yards away, the witness said.
The electricians were taken to Israeli hospitals, where one was in serious condition, Palestinian security officials said. The third man was treated at a local clinic. About 20 people were detained for questioning.
The Israeli military said several men ran away and that soldiers shot at them after warning them to halt. The officials said they did not immediately know whether any of the wounded were fugitives. The army said about 30 patrons were detained.
Meanwhile, in a rare indictment, an Israeli army officer has been charged with killing four Palestinians, including three children, by ordering his soldiers to fire tank shells to enforce a curfew last year.
The officer ordered tank crews to fire to force Palestinians off the streets of the northern West Bank town of Jenin in June 2002, according to a report in Bamahane, a weekly army publication. The report did not give the exact charges of the indictment.
During three years of Palestinian-Israeli violence, Israeli forces have retaken most main West Bank towns in response to Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel. Palestinians charge that soldiers often open fire for no discernible reason, killing and wounding bystanders, but few charges have been filed.
In another development, Richard LeBaron, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, met with Amos Yaron, the director of Israel's Defense Ministry, on Thursday to discuss the route of a security barrier Israel is building in the West Bank. An embassy spokesman, Paul Patin, declined to give details.
Earlier this week, Israel's Cabinet approved a plan to build the series of fences to shield key Jewish settlements -- as well as Israel -- from Palestinian suicide bombers, who have killed hundreds of Israelis over the past three years. The fences would not immediately be linked to the main barrier running closer to Israel's line with the West Bank.
The United States has said the barrier's route could be interpreted as an effort to pre-empt negotiations and unilaterally define the border of a future Palestinian state.
In Thursday's meeting, Yaron assured U.S. officials that Sharon will not link the new fences to the main barrier, Israeli media reports said.
Meanwhile, Israeli security officials said there is a debate on how to deal with the incoming Palestinian government. Some officials propose giving Qureia a boost by releasing Palestinian prisoners and removing a large number of army roadblocks.
Such moves have the support of Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, the officials said, but substantial discussions on any new cease-fire or other gestures have yet to begin and would have to be approved by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Much would depend on Qureia's actions against militants, the officials said. Qureia has said that he would not risk a civil war by launching a major crack down on militants.
Officials in Sharon's office could not be reached for comment Friday.
©2003 Associated Press
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