Resistance Bomber Kills Three Israeli Occupation Soldiers

28/10/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS:Two Palestinian Resistance Groups Claim Settlement Attack||Two Palestinian Resistance Activists Shot Dead in Nablus, a Third in Jenin||Israeli Government Split over Preferential Financial Treatment to Internationally Illegal Isolated Settlements with Labour Threatening to Vote against Budget Wednesday||Arafat to Present New Cabinet to Parliament Monday|| STORY: West Bank bloodshed which claimed three Israeli occupation soldiers and three Palestinians resonated all the way to Jerusalem as a rift widened in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government over funding for Jewish settlements.

A Palestinian resistance bomber struck at the Jewish settlement of Ariel on Sunday, killing three occupation soldiers who tried to overpower him. Israeli occupation troops shot dead two resistance activists in Nablus city, and another Palestinian in nearby Jenin.

TWO PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE GROUPS CLAIM SETTLEMENT ATTACK

Sunday's attack at Ariel was claimed by the Islamic movement Hamas and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,
The explosion followed a resistance bombing on Monday that killed 14 in Israel and prompted a large occupation army sweep for resistance activistsin the West Bank city of Jenin.

The Israeli occupation army has tightened its grip on the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip during a two-year-old Palestinian uprising, to prevent resistance activists entering Israel proper and protect some 145 internationally illegal Jewish settlements from attack.

DISSENT WITHIN SHARON'S COALITION GOVERNMENT

On Sunday there was open dissent in Israeli government as to how much preferential treatment the often isolated and heavily defended communities should get.

Labour, the largest partner in Sharon's coalition, decided it would vote against the 2003 state budget on Wednesday unless settlement funds were redirected to welfare, a move that could lead it out of the coalition and usher in an early election.

The biggest challenge to Sharon's 19-month rule came as Palestinian President Yasser Arafat prepared to present a new cabinet to parliament on Monday, after the previous one quit last month to avoid losing a confidence vote by lawmakers.

ARAFAT UNDER PRESSURE TO REFORM

Arafat is under international pressure to reform his Palestinian Authority and rein in resistance activists as a prelude to resuming peace talks with Israel, which stalled in September 2000. The PLC is one of his most vocal critics at home.

Palestinian officials initially said the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) would not convene in the West Bank city of Ramallah if all 88 lawmakers did not get Israeli approval to attend. By Sunday, the meeting looked likely.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Israeli occupation soldier wounded during a resistance bombing is brought to a hospital in Petach Tikva, near Tel Aviv Sunday Oct. 27, 2002. A Palestinian resistance bomber blew himself up Sunday as Israeli occupation soldiers were shooting him, killing three people and the attacker himself at a gas station on the outskirts of Ariel, one of the largest internationally illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The 18 people injured included a number of occupation soldiers, officials said. (AP Photo/Nir Keida