An unspecified number of armed Jewish settlers attacked the Daheisha refugee camp near Bethlehem Sunday night. Only prompt intervention by the Israel Defense Force prevented “a terrible tragedy,” Gen. Amram Mitzna, commander of the central sector, said Sunday.
He said six of the assailants were arrested and others are being sought and will be prosecuted “to the full extent of the criminal law.” Palestinian sources said 70 settlers were involved. IDF officers spoke of six carloads.
Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said the incident caused him “deep grief. Let us not become like our enemies. Such actions only hurt us.” Mitzna called the attack the most disgusting act ever perpetrated by Jews in the administered territories.
He said it was planned in advance that the assailants would storm the camp in the dead of night and open fire with rifles on homes and buildings. The settlers’ claim that they “just happened” on the scene was “a disingenuous bad joke,” Mitzna said. “They do not even have the courage to admit their own actions.”
Reporters visiting Daheisha Sunday saw windows peppered with bullet holes. IDF officers said it was evidence of intent to hit people inside their homes, including women and children. Cars were vandalized.
CONDEMNED IN KIRVAT ARBA
Mitzna met with camp leaders Sunday afternoon. He met separately with the communal leaders of Kiryat Arba, the Jewish town adjacent to Hebron, where most of the assailants live. Israel Radio reported that the Kiryat Arba leaders condemned the attack and told Mitzna they dissociated themselves from it.
The media attributed the assault on the refugee camp to Rabbi Meir Kahane’s extremist Kach movement. Reporters said they were alerted by Kach in advance of an impending “military action” at Daheisha.
The IDF said it would confiscate the personal weapons of every man found to have participated. Daheisha has been a frequent trouble sport in the West Bank. Local youngsters often pelt passing Israeli vehicles with stones.
An Israeli bus was hit by stones Sunday at the Askar refugee camp near Nablus. The IDF placed the camp under curfew.
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