Violence and crime

Five Palestinian terrorists were killed by rockets two weekends ago when
they were training in a field next to the home of a leader of the Popular
Resistance Committees. This was a training camp for the firing of rockets
into Israel. Three of those killed were relatives of the PRC leader, although
he himself escaped injury. This was the first response ordered by Amir
Peretz as Defense Minister. At the funerals Saturday a week ago the PRC
vowed to wreak vengeance on Israel.
This weekend 7 terrorists were killed, including top Islamic Jihad terrorist
Elias Ashkar, who was wanted for planning the latest bombing in Tel Aviv
that killed 11, as well as previous attacks with a total of 40 Israeli
victims. His house was surrounded in Kabatiya, and when he and four
others refused to come out they were killed in a gunfight. There were no
Israeli casualties.
Six rockets were fired into Southern Israel the previous weekend and so
Israel continued its firing of artillery into northern Gaza. Two hundred
shells were fired, but before they were, leaflets were dropped by
helicopter to warn the inhabitants of northern Gaza to leave their homes.
The leaflets informed them that if the firing of rockets on Israel stopped
then there would be no need for retaliation from Israel.
In Beth Shemesh, there is a building boom because of the expansion of Ramat
Beth Shemesh, where mainly US immigrants are living in large detached houses.
To maintain this building activity the contractors rely on Palestinian
labor, and because of the many checkpoints and blockages many Palestinian
laborers stay illegally overnight in the Beth Shemesh area. Last week this
lead to tragedy when an 8 year old Jewish girl was strangled in the Beth
Shemesh market. Many Palestinians live in and around the market overnight,
and the police think it was a nationalistically motivated crime since there
certainly was no financial motive and she was not sexually molested. Five
Palestinians have been taken into custody on suspicion of this crime.
Every weekend there are reports of violent clashes of youths at night clubs in
the major cities. Last weekend three separate incidents in Haifa and Tel Aviv
involved the stabbings of young men.
Last weekend a woman walking her Pekinese dog at the beach in Haifa
was attacked by a group of hooligans when she complained that their dog
attacked her dog. They shot her and she is in critical condition. The police
have arrested someone for involvement in the crime, but the main suspect is
still at large. This type of casual shooting may be common in the US, but
its appearance here is unsettling.
Nine people were killed in traffic accidents over the weekend. Three young
men were killed in a head-on collision at the Dror Junction outside Netanya,
and others of all ages were killed around the country. A total of 156 people
have been killed so far in 2006. This kind of senseless killing is all such a
terrible waste.