Israeli military leaders condemn violence

by Jason Keyser
The Associated Press

HEBRON, West Bank - Israel's military appealed to Jewish settler leaders Saturday to restrain vigilantes after an ambush by Islamic militants in a dead-end alley left 12 Israelis dead and 14 others wounded.

An army commander, Col. Noam Tibon, said there was concern that Jewish settlers from Hebron and the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba would strike back once the Sabbath ended at sundown Saturday.

The attack began after Jewish worshippers, escorted by soldiers, finished Sabbath prayers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs and were walking back to their settlement of Kiryat Arba, about a half mile away.

Moments after soldiers were told the worshippers were escorted safely, shots burst from an olive grove and nearby Palestinian homes.

An army jeep chased the gunmen into a dead-end alley and was fired on from all directions, Tibon said. Four soldiers were killed.

Reinforcements also were shot and killed. They included the Hebron brigade commander, Col. Dror Weinberg, the highest-ranking Israeli officer shot dead in more than two years of Mideast violence.

Arik Mariner of the security forces said it was difficult to get the wounded out.

"Maybe so many people shouldn't have gone into the alley," Mariner said. "The wounded were screaming `save us' and I saw things ... soldiers without hands, without legs, things that break the heart."

The dead included four Israeli soldiers, five border policemen and three civilian security guards from Kiryat Arba.