Palestinian Sniper Kills Volunteer
CBNNews.com
January 15, 2008
CBNNews.com - A Palestinian sniper from Gaza killed 20-year-old Carlos Andres Chavez, a volunteer from Ecuador, as he was working in the potato fields at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha in southern Israel.
Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the shooting.
Magen David Adom paramedics transferred him to the kibbutz infirmary, where he died of his injuries.
Chavez came to Israel several months ago with a group of South American volunteers to work and see the country.
Annie Rotman, who oversees the volunteer program on the kibbutz, said Chavez had fallen in love with the country and wanted to serve in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).
"I spoke with him just yesterday and we laughed. We spoke of the shooting going on along the border," she said.
Member of Knesset (MK) Aryeh Eldad said the Israeli government has to make a decision.
"The killing brings the government to a crossroads: eliminate terrorism or capitulate to it," he said.
"The abandoning of the country's southern residents to snipers and Katyusha [rocket] launchers is a continuing crime by the Israeli government," Eldad said.
Eshkol Regional Council head Chaim Yalin said he wasn't surprised by the killing.
"What happened was script written in advance," Yalin said. "For a while now, they [Palestinians in Gaza] have been trying to hit farmers," he said, adding that he'd been at the site of the shooting the day before.
Elsewhere in Gaza, 17 Palestinians, including the son of senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar, were killed in various counter-terror operations Tuesday.
In Zeitoun, east of Gaza City, an IDF undercover unit engaged in a gun battle with Palestinians at a house being used as a rocket-launching base.
IDF tanks and bulldozers moved in to back up the unit.
At the border, troops fired at terrorists approaching the security barrier. A fire fight ensued, during which an IDF helicopter targeted a car approaching the troops.
Al-Zahar blamed Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for his son's death.
"This is the hope of Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] and his colleagues, the collaborators with Israel and the spies of America," al-Zahar said, vowing that Hamas would respond "in the appropriate way."
Three years ago, another of al-Zahar's sons was killed in a failed assassination attempt targeting him at his house.
Abbas said the "Israeli slaughter in Gaza" undermined the peace process.
Israeli Arab MKTaleb A-Sanaa called the operation "a war crime."
"Israel received the green light for attacks in Gaza from [U.S. President George] Bush during his visit last week. He allegedly came to promote peace, but he promoted war," he said.
Tuesday evening, four residents of Sderot were wounded when Kassam rockets scored direct hits on homes. Among the wounded was a seven-year-old girl, who was transported to Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital, along with a woman injured by shrapnel.
Sources: Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, YNet news service
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