4 men assassinated in Bethlehem

Wednesday 12th March, call through to IMEMC office at around 645.
“Four men from Bethlehem assassinated in an Israeli under cover Israeli operation”

Arrive at Beit Jala hospital the ambulance area crammed with 1000 people crying and wailing incoherent with anger and grief.

The four bodies are carried out, borne by young men; masses of people follow, shouting with extraordinary intensity. The dead men wrapped in blood stained blankets are then paraded through the streets of Bethlehem a spontaneous protest at their assassination. People stare bleakly, some are weeping in huddles against walls, women relatives of the victims hurry through the crowds into the hospital interior, their faces soaked with tears.

The protest returns, the victims are carefully laid them down at the entrance to the morgue, their faces, caressed, held and kissed.
The living hold each other up, as if to say ‘be strong, be strong, we love you’, there is much unity in this grief; unity is all that can be expressed at times like this.

The four killed were identified as Mohammad Shehada, Imad el-Kamel, Issa Marzouk and Ahmad el-Balboul all from Bethlehem
Israeli troops wearing civilian clothes, driving a civilian car, ambushed the four in a Bethlehem suburb, killing them.

Israel claims the four were wanted.
Shihada, Marzouk and el-Kamel are said to be members of the Islamic Jihad while al-Balboul is said to be a Fatah member. Marzouk is an elected member of the Bethlehem municipality since May 2005, meanwhile Shihada ran as an independent candidate for the Parliamentary elections of January 2006

Imad el-Kamel's father said, this shows that Israel does not want peace,
"this is the nature of the Israeli army, very racist and very violent, the killing of my son and his friends shows that Israel does not want peace
National and Islamic political groups in the city of Bethlehem have announced two days of mourning.
On Thursday of last week the Israeli army attacked the house of Mohammad Shehada in an attempt to capture him; troops surrounded the house for several hours, when soldiers realized the Shehada was not in the house they set fire into the house and demolished it