Coverage by BBSNews

BBSNews - 2003-04-11 -- Tulkarem April 10, 2003 - On Thursday, On April 10, an undercover Israeli special forces team assassinated two Palestinian men in the middle of the lunchtime rush in Tulkarem’s downtown market area. The Israeli forces came dressed as civilians and were traveling in a Palestinian plated mini-van. At least two other Palestinian men were arrested, one of whom may have been injured. One man standing inside the hospital gate (approximately eighty meters away) at the time of the operation was shot in the leg.

Three ISM volunteers (two Americans and an Irish national) arrived on the scene minutes into the operation. They could see one man lying face down on the ground who appeared to be critically injured and demanded that an ambulance be allowed access to the wounded. Soldiers randomly fired towards the responding ambulance in the direction of the Tabbit Tabbit Hospital and Red Crescent Center, wounding a 23-year-old man standing in the ambulance receiving area. Meanwhile Border Police shouted at the activists and ambulance staff to stay away. Minutes later the dead, wounded and arrested men were dragged into a military ambulance and taken to the DCO.

A few hours later, shortly before 6PM, the same group was alerted to the presence of an APC and a Border Police jeep patrolling the streets near the house of one of the deceased men. At the time there was a funeral gathering taking place. After throwing tear gas at the local children, the APC parked outside the family’s house and demanded the IDs of the men inside. After checking approximately twenty men’s IDs and questioning one man, the army left the area. The funeral gathering then continued.

The preceding report was provided to BBSNews by the International Solidarity Movement.

Michael Hess is the Editor of BBSNews in Charlotte, NC. Write to the editor here. Not all submissions are published. Or visit the completely new BBSNews Blog and Forum on our front page - Please Participate in BBSNews!