Palestinian Attack Kills 2 Israeli Hikers

In the first fatal Palestinian attack on Israeli civilians since the agreement on Palestinian self-government a month ago, two Israeli hikers were killed Saturday near the West Bank town of Jericho, apparently by radicals who oppose the accord and have begun a terrorist offensive to upset it.

The slain hikers, two men from Jerusalem in their 20s, were attacked Saturday afternoon in Wadi Qelt, a river oasis that runs through a gorge in the Judean Desert between Jericho and Jerusalem and draws hundreds of visitors each weekend. Other hikers reported that a third hiker had been killed, but no body was found. Two men were reportedly arrested in connection with the killings.

The attack came just hours after the Israeli navy thwarted an attempt by guerrillas belonging to a radical Palestinian group to infiltrate by sea from Lebanon on jet skis; two men belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were reported killed in the early morning clash.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin condemned the attacks but reaffirmed his intention to continue with peace negotiations.

“Early (Saturday) morning terrorists tried to infiltrate via the sea,” the prime minister told a gathering of his Labor Party in the northern port of Haifa. “This afternoon terrorists killed three hikers in Wadi Qelt, wanting to murder Jews and not less than this, to murder the chances of peace. . . .

“I know it’s not easy to talk about peace on a day that they are trying to infiltrate from the sea and are murdering innocent hikers in the Judean Desert,” Rabin said.

“But who is doing it, and for what reason? (They are doing it) to provide ammunition to the opponents of peace on both sides. We are determined. We said it wouldn’t be easy . . . but we have to keep our eyes on the target.”

Israeli security sources said they believed the attack on the hikers was carried out by Palestinian opponents of the agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization over autonomy for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

According to these sources, Israeli intelligence had received information in recent weeks that militants were planning a major attack near Jericho, where the agreement goes into effect first in January, to demonstrate their continued ability to hit Israel hard.

The Muslim fundamentalist group, Hamas, and some radical factions within the PLO itself oppose the agreement as a sellout, and in recent weeks have stepped up their attacks on Israeli military and civilian targets in an attempt to undermine the accord. Israeli rightists cite the attacks as evidence in their argument that the agreement will undermine the Jewish state’s security.

Negotiations on the implementation of the autonomy agreement are to begin Wednesday in Cairo and the Egyptian resort of Taba, and the attacks Saturday will bring added pressure from the Israelis to ensure that they have adequate security measures.

The West Bank attack occurred about 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Israeli security officials said four or five Palestinian gunmen ambushed the hikers, shooting and stabbing them.

Other hikers heard the shots, saw the assailants flee and alerted security forces. With the army in pursuit, the gunmen stole two cars and headed north toward the West Bank town of Ramallah, witnesses said. State-run Israel radio reported that one of the cars had been stopped and two men arrested.

Earlier Saturday, the Israeli navy said it shot and killed at least one armed guerrilla and probably a second riding a jet ski down the Lebanese coast toward Israel.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, one of 10 Syria-based groups opposed to the PLO’s accord with Israel, claimed responsibility for the foiled raid. It said two men had been killed but that two others survived and returned to their base.

In Damascus, leaders of the 10 groups agreed Saturday to form a unified front to direct a new uprising against Israeli rule in the occupied territories.