Israeli leaders vowed to continue peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as thousands of people took park in the funeral of the two Israelis killed in this week’s terror attack near the West Bank town of Hebron.
Yehuda Fartush, 42, and Nahum Hoss, 31, were killed Sunday night when Palestinian gunmen ambushed an Egged bus traveling from Jerusalem to the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, situated near Hebron.
Fartush, who lived in Kiryat Arba, is survived by a wife and infant. Hoss, who was married and lived in Hebron, was Rabbi Moshe Levinger’s confidant. The rabbi is the founder of the Gush Emunim settler movement.
Five other people, including a 12-year-old boy, were wounded in the attack.
After preliminary medical treatment at the site, the wounded were flown by helicopter to nearby hospitals. Four of the wounded remained hospitalized Monday. All were listed in moderate condition.
The attack came after several weeks of quiet and after Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had recently reported progress in their efforts to expand Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.
In Washington, President Clinton extended his sympathies Monday to the victims of the attack and to their families.
“The perpetrators of this crime, who use terror and violence to strike at the peace process itself, will not be allowed to succeed,” White House spokesman Michael McCurry said.
Israeli security sources believe that three to four terrorists opened fire on the bus from roof of a house at the northern entrance to Hebron, near the turnoff to Kiryat Arba.
The Israel Defense Force plans to seal the house as punishment, Israeli Radio reported.
Police blamed Izz a-Din al-Kassam, the military wing of the Hamas fundamentalist group, for carrying out the attack.
A group of fugitives belonging to the organization have been operating in the Hebron area and have been responsible for previous fatal attacks on Israelis, police said.
Police Minister Moshe Shahal said it was only a matter of time before the perpetrators were caught.
“These persons have participated in other attacks,” he told reporters at the Knesset. “We know what they have participated in, and I am certain we are going to bring them to court.”
Israeli settlers ransacked several Palestinian shops in Hebron in retaliation for the attack. But Sunday night, the Israeli army imposed a curfew and began searching for those who carried out the ambush.
The curfew imposed on the 100,000 Palestinian residents of Hebron continued Monday — both to held in the search for the attackers and to prevent further clashes between settlers and Palestinians during the funeral procession.
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and several Knesset members were among those in the funeral procession.
The funeral procession Monday passed through Kiryat Arba and Hebron before arriving at a local cemetery. The procession stopped at Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs, where mourners recited prayers.
Tensions have been running high in Hebron since early last year, when Israeli settler Dr. Baruch Goldstein opened fire at a mosque housed in the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Goldstein killed 29 Muslim worshipers before he was beaten to death by survivors of the attack.
Meanwhile, Israeli settler leaders demanded that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stop negotiations with the Palestinians.
Zvi Katzover, the mayor of Kiryat Arba, said,”The terrorists are shooting, and the government acts as if nothing happened.”
Following the funeral Monday, anti-government demonstrations took place in Jerusalem. Hundreds of settlers chanting “Death to Arabs” clashed with police outside Rabin’s residence in Jerusalem.
Police reportedly charged the crowd and arrested several demonstrators.
Police also broke up a protest by a right-wing group, Women in Green, outside the Prime Minister’s Office.
Police threw several women to the ground and detained three others after the demonstrators refused to disperse.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu also criticized the government.
Repeated terror attacks on Israelis, particularly a double suicide bombing near Netanya in January, had prompted the Israeli government to impose a closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The government had been gradually easing the closure, and on Sunday, prior to the latest attack, officials announced that 3,000 more Palestinians would be issued entry permits to work in Israel.
This brought the total number of workers allowed in from the territories to 25,000.
Also Sunday, Israeli police reportedly found the bodies of two Arabs who were killed by an explosion near the West Bank town of Jenin.
The authorities said the two had apparently been building a bomb that went off prematurely.
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