4 Israeli Soldiers, 1 Palestinian Injured on Anniversary of Hamas

Four Israeli soldiers and a Palestinian were injured in three separate incidents Wednesday, the seventh anniversary of the founding of the Islamic militant group Hamas.

The Israeli army and police called in extra patrols and canceled all leaves in anticipation of the occasion. Hamas, the main rival to the Palestine Liberation Organization, opposes peace with Israel and has carried out a string of attacks on Israelis, including the October bombing of a Tel Aviv bus.

In Deir al Balah in the autonomous Gaza Strip, about 2,000 Hamas members marked the anniversary at an unruly rally where speakers demanded that Israel release their spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, or face further bloody attacks.

“There is no solution except through holy war,” speaker Bassam Nassar said.

Masked gunmen fired into the air and painted walls with red graffiti threatening Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel with further attacks.

The Deir al Balah rally included displays of martial arts and speeches calling for the escalation of attacks against Israel.

“Rabin will pay the bill in the blood of his soldiers and the livers of the settlers,” one slogan said.

In the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, an Israeli reserve soldier made a wrong turn and found himself in the center of a hostile group of youths who stoned his car.

The soldier was bleeding from the head and his car was damaged before Israeli troops rescued him and took him to a hospital.

Near the West Bank town of Tulkarm, two Israeli soldiers were slightly injured when they drove over a bomb, the army said. No other details were immediately available.

In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian stabbed a soldier at a lookout post near the Jewish settlement Ganei Tal. Israeli troops opened fire, wounding the assailant in the legs.