Israel’s redeployment in the West Bank faced a major test this week as two separate security incidents involving Israelis took place within 24 hours of each other.
Two Israelis were wounded Thursday when gunmen opened fire on an Israeli bus and its army escort near the settlement of Shaked, located near the West Bank town of Jenin, Israel Radio reported.
Israel Radio said the two who were wounded were soldiers, both of whom suffered light to moderate wounds.
The shooting incident came less than a day after two Israeli border policemen were kidnapped in Jenin by members of the Black Panthers, a local Palestinian vigilante group.
The border policemen were released after Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat reportedly joined in the negotiations to obtain a peaceful end to the kidnapping.
Jenin was handed over to the Palestinian Authority in mid-November. The incidents sparked a political debate over whether the redeployments should continue.
The kidnapping was triggered by a separate incident Wednesday night in the town of Kabatyah, located near Jenin.
An undercover unit of Israeli security forces spotted a Palestinian terrorist on Israel’s wanted list. Realizing he was being trailed, the terrorist barricaded himself in a coffeehouse.
Israeli forces surrounded the cafe, demanding that he be turned over, but local Palestinians refused.
As the standoff continued, five members of the Black Panthers kidnapped the two Israeli border police in Jenin.
The two are part of the joint Israeli-Palestinian patrols in the area.
The abductors demanded that the Israeli siege on the coffeehouse be called off in return for the release of the two members of the border police.
After negotiations, it was agreed that Palestinian police would arrest the terrorist and bring him to the West Bank Jericho enclave to stand trial.
The two border police were released, and their five kidnappers were arrested.
Environment Minister Yossi Sarid termed the incidents “grave,” but said that lessons should be learned from them, and that the redeployment must continue.
Minister without Portfolio Yossi Beilin echoed the sentiment, saying, “There is no reason why we should hold up the redeployment.”
“What we have to do is to find ways and means in order to prevent such incidents in the future,” he added.
Officials from the Likud opposition called for an immediate halt to the redeployments.
Israeli troops are scheduled to redeploy from five additional West Bank population centers before the end of December.
Preparations have already begun for the Israeli pullback in three of the towns – Nablus, Kalkilya and Tulkarm – where Palestinian officers have begun arriving to coordinate the transfer of authority with their Israeli counterparts.
As the preparations continued, Nablus was the site of serious clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians on Thursday.
At least 18 Palestinians were reportedly wounded, two of them seriously, after Palestinians threw stones and bottles at the troops, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The incident began when dozens of protests gathered in the center of town of commemorate the sixth anniversary of a clash between the Black Panthers and Israeli troops in which four Palestinians were killed.
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