Imad and Adel Awadallah members of Hamas military wing assassinated by Israeli army operation, Thursday, September 10^th, 1998

An Israeli military spokesman said early this morning that occupation troops killed two Palestinians in an armed clash that took place in Zone “C” in Hebron region. Palestinian sources said the clash occurred at Al-Taybeh region near Tarqoumia town in Hebron. Occupation authorities declared the closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip as of 4:00 a.m. this morning, banning Palestinians from entering Israel until further notice. The Israeli military spokesman said: “Shooting and explosions took place in a sector near Hebron, so the Israeli army observed and found two men in a house and killed them; it seemed that they were planning to commit an attack; large amounts of weapons were found near the bodies; we opened investigations.” Palestinian sources said the two Palestinians are the two brothers Imad and Adel Awadallah. Meanwhile, a source closely related to the Israeli army said the Israeli army and police are kept at high alert following this incident for fear of attacks. But, Palestinians opened fire from their automatic weapons yesterday evening at an Israeli bus that was passing near Nablus in the West Bank; the shooting did not cause any injuries. The Israeli bus was carrying Jewish Talmud settlers who were heading to Joseph Tomb site in Nablus. The shooting took place in an area controlled by the Israeli army which hurried to the area and held a search campaign but could catch the perpetrators. Al-Ayyam Newspaper; Meanwhile, Palestinian eyewitness Yasser Abu Rai’eh, 53, from Tarqoumia area, said the operation started at around 4:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon when he saw a military vehicle bringing a large force escorted by 8 civilian cars which surrounded the house, after which the Palestinian eyewitness said heard around six shots; he added that the Israeli army closed the area and conducted a search operation in the whole area till around 9:00 p.m.; Yasser said he did not hear any explosions during the incident. The first reaction concerning the incident was from Hamas official Mahoumd Al-Zahhar who said: “This is Israeli terrorism; the Palestinian people has the right to retaliate to the this terrorism with operations against known and specific targets.” JMCC

Friday, September 11, 1998 - Palestinians have started heading towards the house of Imad Awadallah's family in al-Bireh to pay condolences following the confirmed reports about the martyrdom of Imad and Adel Awadallah. JMCC