A Palestinian militant fatally shot an Israeli woman during an ambush of a settlers’ convoy in the Gaza Strip on Monday night and then killed an Israeli army officer and soldier by blowing himself up as they rushed to the scene.
The attack occurred about 7 p.m. on the road to the Gush Qatif settlements. The gunman opened fire from close range on settlers riding without a military escort in vehicles that did not have armor plating, the Israeli army reported.
Settlers are not required to have either escorts or bulletproof vehicles in that area, where the Israeli army has a large presence.
It was not immediately clear how the responding soldiers got close enough to the attacker to be killed in the explosion, the army said. An investigation was under way.
The attack, in which two other soldiers were injured, followed a car bombing just outside Jerusalem on Monday. That blast killed an Israeli police officer, along with the bomber.
In that episode, Israeli police stopped a suspicious car at a checkpoint near the settlement of Maale Adummim, authorities said. The driver got out and then used a remote control device to detonate explosives that resulted in the two deaths.
Monday night, two Palestinian gunmen attacked another settlement in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces killed one of the assailants in an ensuing gunfight, Palestinians said.
Early Tuesday, Israeli warplanes struck two Palestinian security buildings, one in Ramallah in the West Bank and the other in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.
The Israeli army said in a statement after the Ramallah strike that it acted in retaliation for the ambush in which the settler and the soldiers were killed. It had no immediate comment on the second strike, and there were no reports of casualties.
Israel held Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat responsible for Monday’s violence. Arafat has called for a cease-fire, but his aides say that Israeli military and economic pressure on Palestinians makes it impossible for him to halt the attacks.
Also Monday, Arafat praised as “politically important” an idea being considered by a Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, in proposing peace with Israel. In the deal, the Arab world would offer peace in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from all territory, including the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, occupied in the 1967 war.
