Three Palestinians and an Israeli army officer were killed Tuesday in a shootout in the south of Nablus in the West Bank, said reports.
Israeli media reported that the Palestinian resistance fighters opened their machineguns from a passing car at an Israeli patrol, which returned fire and killed he three attackers.
Helicopters were seen rushing injured Israelis to hospital.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian was hurt Tuesday when an Israeli tank fired on the taxi he was in near the Gush Katif Jewish settlement bloc in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian police told AFP.
The Tel Aviv-based Haaretz quoted Palestinians as saying that four people were injured in the atttack, two of them seriously.
Palestinian police also accused an Israeli tank of deliberately ramming another taxi head-on near the Netzarim settlement in the northern Gaza Strip, although the Israeli army said the incident was a traffic accident involving a jeep.
The Palestinians said four people were hurt, one seriously, in the collision, while an Israeli army spokesman said five Palestinians and three Israelis were injured when a military jeep accidentally smashed into the taxi.
And a Palestinian man said that he was shot in the leg by settlers as he was working his land next to the Shvut Rachel settlement in the central West Bank, according to Haaretz.
The man, who is in his forties, was lightly injured. He said the settlers fled the scene after the shooting.
Police came to the scene and opened an investigation. The wounded man was questioned and taken to Tel Hashomer Hospital for treatment
A pullout from Jenin, in the northern West Bank, was delayed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after a bomb exploded in a nearby Jewish settlement Monday, said Ra'anan Gissin, a senior aide to the prime minister, quoted by the paper.
Three Israelis were injured, one seriously, when the bomb went off in the makeshift cafeteria at a factory in the settlement of Shaked, police said. The Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attack, according to a statement they issued.
Shots were fired overnight at Israeli army outposts in the Gaza Strip near the settlements of Gedid and Katif, on the Karni-Netzarim road, and at the army base near Rafah, Israel Radio reported. There were no injuries.
There were three other explosions Monday in the territories: at Kafr Kochin, near Nablus; at Neve Dekalim in Gush Katif; and near the occupation army headquarters in Gaza, in Gush Katif. No casualties were reported in any of those incidents, according to Haaretz..
The blast in the settlement came a day after Islamic Jihad took responsibility for a lone gunman who riddled a Jerusalem bus with bullets, killing two Israelis and injuring 46 others.
It also claimed a similar attack exactly a week earlier when fighters drove into the center of Hadera near the Israeli coast and shot dead four women at a bus station.
The attackers were shot dead in both cases – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
