Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Muslim rebels kill 5 Israelis in Lebanon Date: Mon, 26 Oct 92 14:37:03 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Muslim rebels kill 5 Israelis in Lebanon \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT RASHAYA, Lebanon RASHAYA, Lebanon (AP) - Muslim guerrillas bombed an Israeli military convoy yesterday, killing five soldiers and wounding at least five in the bloodiest attack against Israel in south Lebanon in two years, authorities said. The Islamic Resistance, the military wing of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement broadcast by its radio station, Voice of Islam. The bombing followed a surge in Arab-Israeli violence as the seventh round of Middle East peace talks was under way in Washington. Also yesterday, unidentified gunmen killed an Israeli reserve soldier, Sgt. Shmuel Gersh, 32, at a holy site at Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli army. Another soldier was slightly injured in the attack, the second in the area in a week. [Reuter's news agency quoted the army's West Bank commander as saying the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) claimed responsibility for the attack. ["I believe the reason is the peace process. Some organizations who are against the peace process have decided to attack and operate against soldiers and Jewish settlers . . . to disturb the peace process," said Brig. Gen. Moshe Yaalon.] Hundreds of Jewish settlers rioted after the killing and attempted to storm the hotel where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was meeting visiting Portuguese Prime Minister Anibal Cavaco Silva, police said. In the south Lebanon attack, seven soldiers were wounded in the blast in the village of Ahmadiyeh on the northern edge of Israel's unilaterally-imposed security zone, according to security sources. In Jerusalem, the Israeli army confirmed the attack and fatalities, but said only five soldiers were injured. The report was delayed by military censors for nine hours while the army notified relatives of the slain soldiers. The dead Israeli soldiers were identified by the army as: Lt. Eran Shoham, 21; Sgt. Assaf Golan, 19; Cpl. Niv Amuyal, 19; Cpl. Sirhan Wassam, 20; and Sgt. Avraham Assulin, 20. A spokesman for Hezbollah in Beirut claimed "at least 15 Israeli soldiers were killed or wounded and two military vehicles destroyed." He said the guerrillas who carried out the attack "returned safely to base," but did not say how many there were. Witnesses in Meemis, a village facing Ahmadiyeh outside the Israeli-controlled zone, said they heard the roadside blast, then saw an Israeli military vehicle explode in flames. An army spokesman said the attack occurred at 2:40 p.m. as a seven-vehicle convoy drove on a road about a mile from the village of Kaoukba. The army said a 40- to 60-pound bomb packed with bullets exploded beneath a transport carrying 12 soldiers to relieve other troops. Many of the dead and injured were members of noncombat service units, it said. The Israeli news agency Itim reported that Israeli artillery pounded villages over the security zone border with hundreds of shells after the attack. No airstrikes were reported, however. Israeli warplanes have struck Lebanon at least 29 times this year, most often in retaliation for guerrilla activity in the south, although some were said to be pre-emptive strikes. The casualty figure for yesterday's attack was the highest since a Nov. 26, 1990, clash with Palestinian guerrillas in which five Israelis were killed. Before then, the highest toll was seven Israelis killed and eight wounded in a suicide bomb explosion near the border on Oct. 19, 1988. Hezbollah, or Party of God, is vehemently opposed to the U.S.-sponsored Arab-Israeli peace initiative. Since the start of the talks a year ago, Hezbollah and its allies have escalated attacks against the Israelis in south Lebanon. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM