Palestinian Axe Murder of 13 year old in Gush Etzion Area

I wonder if they Palestinians are observing the Geneva conventions. I am not sure that a 13 year old kid and a 7 year old kid could be considered combatants. Will they have heartrending discussions about this?

 

Last update - 13:20 02/04/2009    

 

13-year-old killed, 7-year-old wounded in West Bank terror attack 

 

By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service

A 13-year-old boy was killed and a 7-year-old was seriously hurt Thursday in a terror attack at the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin. The two were set upon by an axe-wielding man who is thought to have fled the area following the attack.

 

Channel 2 television reported that the terrorist was a local Palestinian employee. Security forces are said to be combing the area in search of the assailant.

 

The teen sustained critical head wounds and later died of his injuries, Magen David Adom rescue personnel said. The 7-year-old was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Karem in Jerusalem for treatment.

 

An official told Channel 2 that an armed resident in the settlement opened fire in the direction of the terrorist as he fled, though it is unclear if the terrorist was wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

 

Immediately after the attack, a passerby confronted the terrorist and wrestled the axe from him. The terrorist subsequently broke free from the passerby's grasp and fled the scene, Channel 2 said.

 

"He tried to stab me. I kicked him, he kicked me," the settler, who gave his name only as Avinoam, told Channel 10.

 

Bat Ayin officials said residents in the settlement have been instructed to remain in their homes. Security forces in the vicinity have also been advised to remain on high alert.

 

Bat Ayin, situated in the Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem near the Palestinian cities of Bethlehem and Hebron, is not ringed by a security fence, residents told Channel 2. This is apparently for ideological reasons.

 

This was the first attack in the Etzion Bloc since January 2008, when two students were wounded after two terrorists armed with knives broke into their yeshiva.

 

Two people were injured in a stabbing incident at Gush Etzion Junction in 2006.

 

Three people were killed in a shooting attack in 2005 when terrorists shot at youths from a passing vehicle