| | | Last Update: 25/03/2004 02:29 | | | Palestinian boy, 14, got NIS 100 to blow up at IDF roadblock | | | | By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and AP | | | | Israel Defense Forces paratroopers caught a Palestinian boy aged 14 wearing an explosive belt at the Hawara roadblock, south of Nablus, in the West Bank on Wednesday afternoon. | | Sappers used a remote-controlled robot to pass scissors to the boy, Hussam Abdu from Nablus, so that he could cut the explosive belt off his body, and then safely detonated it in a controlled explosion.
Abdu, who was taken in for questioning, said that he received NIS 100 to carry out a suicide attack.
The IDF believes that Abdu was meant to detonate the 8 kg belt near the soldiers or close to the nearby army base.
A Tanzim cell from the Balata refugee camp in Nablus took responsibility for sending the boy.
Abdu told soldiers of his dream of receiving 72 virgins in heaven, which his dispatchers had promised him, and said that he had been tempted by the promise of sexual relations with the virgins. He said that he had been bullied at school for his poor academic performance and that he had wanted "to be a hero."
The commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel "Guy," told Haaretz that the boy was apparently instructed to set off the explosives he was wearing among the soldiers.
It appears that he was afraid to detonate the bomb at the site, as he was surrounded by Palestinians and the soldiers were too far away. Lieutenant Colonel "Guy" added that the "level of awareness" of the soldiers prevented a serious terrorist attack.
The family of the boy said that he was gullible. "He doesn't know anything," his brother, Hosni, said.
In a statement, the Israel branch of Physicians for Human Rights condemned the Palestinian militants for sending the teenager on a bombing mission.
The statement said, "Adults should cease to exploit children by making them take part in such acts." The Israeli branch of the physicians group often issues protests about Israel's practices in the territories.
Soldiers at the checkpoint said they had received intelligence that there was an imminent attack planned there, shut down the crossing and began searching people there.
Suddenly the boy, wearing an oversized red jersey, approached them in a suspicious way, said an officer at the checkpoint.
"We saw that he had something under his shirt," he said. The soldiers dove behind concrete barricades, pointed their guns at him and told him to stop.
They ordered him to take off his jersey, revealing a large gray bomb vest underneath. "He told us he didn't want to die. He didn't want to blow up," the officer said.
The soldiers then sent the robot to hand the scissors to the boy. He cut off part of the vest and struggled with the rest. "I don't how to get this off," Abdu called to the soldiers.
After he dropped the vest, soldiers ordered him to take off his undershirt and jeans, to ensure he had no other weapons on him.
"This is another horrific example of how the Palestinians use their own children to spread terror against Israelis," David Baker, an official in the prime minister's office, said in response.
"These children are turned into human time-bombs for the purpose of spreading as much terror against Israelis as possible," Baker added.
Abdu's mother voiced astonishment at the incident.
"Hussam left home this morning to school, and this was the first we hear of what happened," Tamam Abdu told Reuters from the family home in Nablus, just north of Hawara. "This is shocking. To use a child like this is irresponsible, forbidden."
Just last week, soldiers found an explosive charge on a cart pushed by a 10-year-old Palestinian boy at the same roadblock.
The soldiers released the boy after it transpired that he did not know what was in the bag he was carrying through the barricade.
Late Wednesday, several Israeli tanks moved back into an area of the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, residents said.
Military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was a similar, limited operation to one the day before in which some structures were razed.
4 soldiers, 8 Palestinians hurt in territories
An IDF soldier was lightly wounded in a shooting attack near the Gaza Strip settlement of Gadid. Israeli troops returned fire.
Two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded by Palestinian stone-throwers in two separate incidents in the West Bank at the Zif junction south of Hebron and further north near Elon Moreh. A third soldier was wounded in an incident in the village of Budrus near the Green Line west of Ramallah.
Eight Palestinian residents of Hebron were wounded Wednesday afternoon in violent clashes with Israeli security forces, Itim quoted Palestinian sources as having reported.
The clashes broke out when Palestinians began throwing stones and firebombs at Israeli troops stationed in Hebron's Old City.
Also in the territories on Wednesday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on IDF troops west of Ramallah and near Netzarim in the central Gaza Strip. No casualties or damage were reported in either incident and troops returned fire.
IDF troops on Tuesday night foiled an attempt by two Palestinian militants to infiltrate into the settlement of Morag in the southern Strip.
The soldiers spotted an armed Palestinian approaching the settlement and opened fire. After the area was searched in the morning hours Wednesday, two bodies of armed Palestinians were discovered. No Israelis were wounded in the incident.
According to defense establishment figures, since the beginning of the intifada, there have been 29 Palestinians under the age of 18 who carried out suicide attacks, and 22 others under 18 who carried out "sacrificial attacks" - in which they opened fire and were killed - in the territories. Forty others under 18 were arrested on suspicion of intending to carry out attacks. |
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