An explosion destroys the 3-story home of senior Islamic Jihad military cmdr. Ayman Fayed in al-Bureij r.c., killing him, his wife and 2 children, and 3 neighbors, wounding at least 50 bystanders (12 critically), badly damaging 10 nearby homes; Islamic Jihad accuses Israel of assassinating Fayed in an air strike and vows retaliation, but Israel denies carrying out any actions in the area, claiming that rockets kept in the home exploded accidentally; Hamas-affiliated police say the cause is unclear. Meanwhile, the IDF shells a rocket-launching site nr. Bayt Hanun, hitting and damaging a home nearby, causing no injuries. Nr. al-Qarara, 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. are injured when a mortar they are preparing detonates prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Ramallah and al-Bireh overnight; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Burqa nr. Ramallah; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 1). In Gaza City, unidentified masked men raid the YMCA and blow up its 8,000-volume library; a 2d bomb is defused; the attack is considered the latest in a string targeting Christian organizations in the Strip. (AFP, AKH, AP 2/15; NYT, WP, WT 2/16; PCHR 2/21)
Friday, February 15, 2008