Saturday, May 20, 2006

The IDF makes an air strike on a moving car in Gaza, assassinating senior Islamic Jihad military cmdr. Muhammad Dadu, killing 3 bystanders and wounding 4; patrols in Balata r.c. late in the evening, fatally shooting a Palestinian woman who comes to her window to observe events; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm town and r.c., nr. Hebron, Jenin. Meanwhile, a bomb explodes at the PA General Intelligence Service (GIS) offices in Gaza, seriously wounding GIS chief Tariq Abu Rajab in an apparent assassination attempt, killing his bodyguard, wounding 8 others (unidentified gunmen shot, wounded a bodyguard outside Abu Rajab’s home on 5/14); PA security forces taking the wounded to the hospital fire fr. the windows of their cars to clear the streets; mbrs. of the ESF, believing themselves under attack, fire toward the convoy, causing no injuries. No group takes responsibility for the bombing; PA PM Ismail Haniyeh calls for an investigation. In response to the attempt on Abu Rajab’s life, a group calling itself the Fatah Protection Unit demands that PA Pres. Mahmud Abbas dismiss the Hamas-led government and call new elections, that the Interior Min. disband the ESF. Unidentified Palestinian gunmen fire on the home of Interior Min. spokesman Khalid Abu Hilal, causing damage but no injuries. (JAZ, PNN 5/20; MENA, PSCT, VOI 5/20 in WNC 5/21; NYT, WP, WT 5/21; AFP, Daily Star, HA, MM 5/22; PCHR 5/25)