Arab Bus Driver Kills Israeli, but Circumstances Are Unclear

A young Israeli woman was killed Friday in what Israeli authorities said was a deliberate terrorist act by an Arab using a bus as a weapon.

But Palestinian sources claim the bus driver was trying to defend himself from a mob after an accidental collision, when the driver was shot to death by an Israeli reserve soldier.

Sigal Allon, 21, was buried Sunday in her home village of Moshav Brosh, near the Gaza Strip. She died when the car she was riding in was rammed and crushed by a bus driven by Mohammed Samir al-Katamani, a 30-year-old Palestinian resident of the Jabalya refugee camp near Gaza.

Four other Israelis sustained relatively slight injuries when Katamani also hit their cars with the bus. Katamani was killed by a driver of one of those vehicles.

The incident occurred at about 9 a.m. near the Erez checkpoint, where Israeli soldiers stop and search Arab drivers and their vehicles passing between the Gaza Strip and Israel proper.

Katamani was driving an empty bus back to Gaza from Ashkelon, where he had taken Palestinian families early Friday morning to visit relatives in Israeli jails for security offenses.

Israeli authorities said Katamani suddenly swerved into the opposite lane and began deliberately ramming cars with Israeli license plates.

After smashing into Allon’s car from the rear, he left the bus brandishing an iron bar while shouting “Allah akhbar” (God is great), Israel Radio reported.

According to the Israeli account, Katamani, who was employed by the Abu Ramadan Gaza Car Co., which owns the bus, was shot to death by a 28-year-old Israeli reserve soldier after failing to halt or heed a warning shot fired into the air.

But according to Palestinian sources, the bus hit the car accidentally when the car failed to observe a stop sign.

They said the driver left to ascertain the damage and was then threatened by an Israeli crowd. He re-entered the bus to get an iron bar to defend himself and was shot when he emerged, the Palestinian sources said.

The incident immediately triggered riots in the Gaza Strip. No details were reported, but several score Palestinians were said to have been wounded in clashes with Israeli troops.

The territory was reported calm by Sunday when Allon was buried. Her funeral was quiet. There were no calls for revenge.

Rabbi Baruch Abuhatzeira said the violence was a sign the time has come for repentance.

But one mourner remarked, “Forty years ago, residents of the Gaza Strip stole our sheep; now they are taking our lives.”