20 Palestinians in Mosque Killed by Jewish Settler

A Jewish settler on the Israeli-occupied West Bank opened fire early today on Muslims praying at a mosque in Hebron, 20 miles south of Jerusalem, killing at least 20 Palestinians and wounding dozens more, according to Israeli military spokesmen.

The settler, described as a civilian but dressed in an army uniform, burst into the Ibrahim Mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs, a site holy to both Jews and Muslims, about 5:45 a.m. today local time and fired long, indiscriminate bursts at the Palestinians as they prayed, Israeli military sources said.

The settler then shot himself to death, according to Israeli sources, but Palestinians reported that he was killed by worshipers at the mosque.

Israeli Army Radio identified the gunman as a resident of the nearby Israeli settlement Kiryat Arbat and a member of the ultranationalist movement Kach, an offshoot of the Jewish Defense League founded in the United States.

The radio put the Palestinian dead at 20, and hospital officials in Hebron and Jerusalem said at least 125 had been wounded, many critically.

According to Nasser Ghazali, who was praying at the mosque, “We were praying and we heard a lot of shooting. Somebody shouted ‘The settlers are attacking.’ ”

Reporters saw more than 10 ambulances rushing victims toward Jerusalem.

Hundreds of Palestinians poured into the streets of Hebron, pelting army units with rocks, firebombs and grenades as the soldiers struggled to restore order. The army then sealed Hebron, a city of 50,000, and imposed a curfew.

The incident had apparently begun Thursday evening when Israeli settlers, observing the start of the Jewish festival of Purim, quarreled over the use of the Cave of the Patriarchs with Muslims, who are in the midst of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Because of its importance to both religions, the Cave of the Patriarchs has been the scene of frequent clashes, many of them bloody, between Israelis and Palestinians.

And with Jewish settlers both in Hebron’s center and its outskirts, the town has become the focus of much recent violence on the West Bank.

On Thursday, Israeli troops in Jerusalem killed a suspected Palestinian guerrilla and captured another wanted in the killing of eight Israelis, including a security police officer.

The army said the two men--a third escaped--belonged to the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas, which vehemently opposes a peace deal between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel.

The troops laid siege for seven hours to a house in Abu Dis, two miles southeast of Jerusalem’s Old City, battling with the guerrillas barricaded inside, according to military sources.

The troops fired antitank missiles repeatedly at the one-story stone house, but were unable to storm it as the guerrillas inside shot back with rifles and pistols.

The army identified the dead guerrilla as Abed Rahman Hamdan, 23, and the other who was captured as Ali Ahmed Ali Amudi, 19.

Military sources said they belonged to a Hamas cell that had killed eight Israelis since the Sept. 13 peace accord signed between Israel and the PLO.