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Sharon condemns jewish terror { August 17 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1551090,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1551090,00.html
Sharon condemns 'Jewish terror' attack
Staff and agencies
Wednesday August 17, 2005
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, this evening condemned the killing of three Palestinians by an Israeli settler as an act of "Jewish terror" aimed at stopping the Gaza pullout.
Mr Sharon said the shooting was "aimed against innocent Palestinians, out of twisted thinking, aimed at stopping the disengagement".
The gunman is reported to have opened fire on Palestinians at a Jewish settlement in the West Bank this afternoon, killing three and wounding four others.
In apparent retaliation for the shooting, Palestinians fired a mortar shell towards the Morag settlement in Gaza, but no injuries have been reported.
Israeli radio reported an exchange of gunfire between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops near the settlement after the mortar attack.
Police said the gunman, identified as Asher Weisgan, 40, was driving Palestinian workers to jobs in the industrial zone of the West Bank settlement of Shilo, which is not being evacuated. Mr Weisgan then reportedly forced a security guard at knifepoint to hand over his gun and turned it on his passengers.
Medical officials said he shot dead two Palestinians in his car and then opened fire on others in the settlement, killing the third.
"He fired at the Palestinian workers," a police spokesman, Shlomo Saguy, said. "The shooter has now been captured."
Mr Weisgan was reported by Israeli media to be from the West Bank settlement of Shvut Rachel.
The Islamic militant group Hamas threatened to avenge the shooting attacks.
"This crime is not going to pass without tough punishment," said Mushir al-Masri, a spokesman for Hamas. But he added that the group had an interest in seeing the Gaza withdrawal go ahead, suggesting they may not take immediate action.
The shooting came just hours after Israeli troops began the enforced evacuation phase of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation.
The removals have seen troops dragging some settlers out kicking and screaming. Earlier, a 54-year-old Israeli woman set herself on fire in the southern Israeli town of Netivot, not far from Gaza, in protest at the withdrawal. She was reportedly left with life-threatening burns over 60% of her body.
There were also reports that a group of up to 20 protesters were threatening to commit mass suicide by setting themselves on fire this afternoon.
Earlier this month, an Israeli army deserter opened fire on a bus in northern Israel, killing the driver and three passengers, all Arabs. The gunman, a fierce opponent of the Gaza pullout, was bludgeoned to death by a mob.
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