Israelis kill man ‘plotting massive attack’ on Jewish Olympics
An Israeli helicopter missile attack today killed a Hamas terror group commander who was planning a ‘‘massive attack’’ on the Jewish Olympics, said military sources.
The pilots targeted at a small farm building in Bethlehem and killed three people including two who are senior Hamas activists long wanted by Israel.
Israeli military sources said the strike was on a Hamas commander who was ‘‘planning a massive attack’’ for the closing ceremony of the eight day Maccabiah games, which began on Monday and brought more than 3,000 Jewish athletes to Israel.
Palestinian gunmen returned fire from the ground, according to one of the Palestinian security sources.
The dead were identified by Palestinian security sources as: Omar Saadeh, his cousin Mohammed Saadeh and Taha Aruj. Omar Saadeh and Aruj were senior Hamas activists who Palestinian security sources said were long wanted by Israel.
A fourth person was in hospital in critical condition.
Israel, which has criticised the Palestinians for failing to arrest people it considers terror suspects, has a policy of targeted killings. The policy has been widely condemned by Arab and Western governments.
Blood stained the concrete floor of what had been a cinderblock building largely used to house chickens.
The building was obliterated; some of the hundreds of people who gathered at the site afterward pulled dead chicks from the debris. Just 15 feet away, a shed was untouched.
A battered fridge, plastic bottles, straw floor mats littered the area.
Uniformed Palestinian security officials tried to keep people from approaching too closely. Women cried on the front steps of a nearby house.
‘‘There must be a solution or the uprising will continue,’’ said Wissam Ibrahim, a 19-year-old neighbour. ‘‘We knew this was a possibility and it could happen to others - this is not the first time.’’
