Shots fired by an Israeli civilian seriously wounded an Arab woman today. The victim, taken to Hadassah Hospital here, was identified as a resident of the Arab refugee camp in the Hebron area of the West Bank. Her name and age were not immediately disclosed. Police investigating the incident said the shots were fired from an Israeli jeep into a crowd of Palestinian demonstrators who had surrounded the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Mayor Wahid Hamdallah of Anabta village was removed from office over the weekend after his conviction by an Israeli court for alleged security violations. He is the sixth West Bank mayor to be ousted in the last two year. The mayors of Hebron and Halhoul were deported in 1980 following the ambush slaying of seven yeshiva students in Hebron. The mayors of Ramallah, El Bireh and Nablus were ousted two months ago for refusing to cooperate with the Israeli civilian administration on the West Bank.
Hamdallah, a member of the outlawed National Guidance Committee, is said to be a close associate of deposed Mayor Bassam Shaka of Nablus who, the Israelis charge, is the leader of Palestine Liberation Organization supporters on the West Bank. Following Hamdallah’s removal, the remaining West Bank mayors threatened to suspend all municipal services unless the civil administration is abolished and the ousted mayors are returned to office.
Shaka, holding his first press conference since his removal, accused the civilian administration today of persistent harassment of Arab municipalities and attempting to divide the residents from their local leadership. He claimed that he still ran the Nablus municipal government even though an Israeli army officer has been installed in the city hall.
ISRAELI SOLDIER WOUNDED BY LAND MINE
In other developments, an Israeli soldier was wounded in southern Lebanon Friday when hit vehicle struck a land mine. He was evacuated to a hospital in Israel. He is the third Israeli casualty in south Lebanon in the past two weeks. Late last month an Israeli army officer was killed and another soldier was wounded by a land mine. That incident was followed by a massive Israeli air attack on Palestinian bases in Lebanon.
A spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said the man wounded Friday was a member of Maj. Saad Hadad’s Christian Militia. But an Israeli military spokesman identified him as an Israeli soldier. He accounted for his presence in Lebanon by referring to a recent statement by Chief of Staff Gen. Rafoel Eitan that Israeli soldiers were “helping Haddad’s men.”
Meanwhile, Gen. Yehoshua Saguy, chief of military intelligence, predicted over the weekend that the Lebanese border would “heat up” this year. However, he said the Palestinian terrorists would think twice before launching any attacks on Israel for fear that Israeli forces would retaliate by destroying their entire infrastructure in Lebanon.
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