By Izzat Ramini
Albawaba.com - Ramallah
Israel tanks bombarded on Friday residential parts of the Palestinian town of Beireh, causing substantial damage to houses, a school and the the Palestinian Ministry of Local Rule, Albawaba.com correspondent, who was at the scene, said.
The Israeli forces fired at least 20 shells and a rocket from their positions at Beit Eil settlement in the area.
Earlier, the city and the adjacent Ramallah witnessed rallies and violent confrontations between Palestinians and the Israeli forces, who fired tear gas bombs, live and rubber-coated bullets at the protestors.
When the rally arrived at City Inn checkpoint, the Israelis retaliated to Palestinian gunfire by firing 500mm, and 800mm machine guns at demonstrators, who had to retreat.
Friday’s marches came in response to Thursday’s assassination of a Fateh leader, Hussein Ebayat, in Bethlehem when an Israeli helicopter hit his civilian car with a rocket, also killing two women who were at the scene at the time of the machine gun fire.
Ebayat, 37 and a father of four daughters and three boys was the head of Fateh’s military wing in the southern part of the West Bank. He was imprisoned by the Israelis between 1984-1989, and was one of the first Intifada activists.
Commenting on the assassination, secretary general of the Palestinian President Tayeb Abdul Rahim, told Albawaba.com that Israel takes full responsibility of “the dangerous and unprecedented escalation, which will lead to more deterioration of the situation.”
Abdul Rahim described the murder as “a cowardly act,” vowing that the PNA will defend its people and cadres against the Israeli arrogance and continued aggressions against Palestinians.”
According to the secretary of Fateh in Bethlehem, Kamel Hamad Amin, “the sleazy crime was premeditated, and planned by Israel at top levels,” adding that more Palestinian figure were targeted by the Israeli forces.
“Four Apache helicopters were chasing four of Fatehs leaders to assassinate them,” Amin said.
In a statement on Thursday, Fateh, the mainstream Palestinian movement, said that it would seek Israeli chief of staff Shaul “Mofaz’s head” to revenge the killing of Ebayat.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) threatened that the attack will not pass without a “painful response.”
The PFLP called on the Palestinian leadership “to leave behind the seven years of negotiations, to adopt a new policy based on resistance, and transfer the Palestinian file to the UN.”
On the same day, the Palestinian opposition group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – the General Command, promised in a statement that it would respond quickly to the operation, adding that it “was against the Palestinian people and its symbol of struggle” -- Albawaba.com
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