Violence related to the intifada escalated in the Gaza Strip with the shooting of two Israelis in two days by armed Arabs in the shadow of an Israel Defense Force observation post.
The victim Monday morning was 48-year-old Amnon Yahalomi of the Gaza Strip settlement of Dekel, who suffered bullet wounds in the neck, shoulder and arm.
More seriously wounded was Moshe Buchris, 53, of Ashdod, who was shot in the head and hand early Sunday morning while waiting by his truck to pick up Arab laborers at the entrance to Morag, a settlement a few miles from the Egyptian border.
Yahalomi was attacked in almost the same spot while Arab workers were climbing into his car. He spotted two Arabs nearby pointing a weapon at him and ducked, grabbing his own weapon. The assailants fired first and disappeared behind sand dunes.
Yahalomi reached the military post for aid before the soldiers could pursue his attackers.
Security sources consider the two incidents grave because rifles were used. Until recently, firearms were rarely encountered in the intifada. But lately their use has doubled in attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers alike.
Also unnerving was the fact that the attacks occurred virtually under the eyes of the IDF.
The shootings increased tension in and near the Gaza Strip. Jews on Monday stoned a bus carrying Arab workers home to the Gaza Strip from Ashdod. One Arab had to be hospitalized.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
