An Israeli motorist was ambushed and lightly wounded by a Palestinian Arab gunman while driving near the Samarian town of Kalkilya during the predawn hours on Friday. The wounded motorist managed to continue driving until he reached a nearby Israeli army checkpoint, where he informed soldiers what had happened. A small army force proceeded to search the area, when the gunman opened fire on the soldiers, moderately wounding the search team's commanding officer. The officer managed to return fire and kill the terrorist. The gunman was later identified as a member of Hamas.
In other news, Western-backed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Thursday told residents of the Samarian town of Nablus to ignore Israeli army orders that a local shopping mall remain closed. Israeli troops raided the mall and shut it down after learning that most of the shopkeepers were passing money to Hamas forces in the area. The raid was part of a larger Israeli crackdown that Palestinian sources said was being carried out in coordination with Fayyad's government in order to prevent a Hamas takeover in Judea and Samaria. |