Security forces thwarted three suicide bomb attacks on Israelis after finding three 'ready-to-use' explosive belts hidden inside a washing machine in a butcher's shop in the East Jerusalem village of Al Azzariya north-east of Bethlehem.
"Honey! Have you seen my suicide belts?"
"I put them all in the washer, dear. They were filthy." |
Border Police sappers blew up the belts that contained 20 to 30 kilograms of explosives, nails and metal balls. The information that led the Border Police to find the belts, to be used by suicide bombers, was supplied by several Palestinians who were detained in the past few days by the General Security Service (Shabak).
| "Oooch! Ouch! I'll tell you where, if you'll just get off my head!" |
Reports indicate that the belts belonged to Hamas terrorists who were planning a suicide attack in the capital in the near future.
| I'm trying to come up with another likely use for them, but for the life of me, I can't... |
Meanwhile, Israeli troops chased Palestinian
militants through the narrow alleys of Nablus' Old City early Saturday, setting off intense gunbattles that killed an elderly man who watched the fighting from a window, Palestinian witnesses said. At 2:30 a.m. (23:30 GMT), witnesses saw 15 Israeli army jeeps enter the Old City in search of members of militant groups. In heavy gunbattles, the troops exchanged fire with gunmen, chasing after them through the dark alleys. A resident of the city, Fathi Bolbol, 80, died from bullet wounds, said doctors at Rafidya Hospital. His son Bashar, 35, said the elderly man was found dead on the floor next to his bed and that apparently he had gone to the window to see what was happening when he was struck by gunfire.
| "Lookitdat, Fatimah! They havin' a gunfight with the Zionists! I can see everything for my window! Fetch me an iced tea... Ow!... Forget... the ... iced... tea..." |
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