[DM's "Sparks of Gaza-Bethlehem First"?] IDF officer killed in shooting
attack in northern Gaza Strip

[IMRA: Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer, who on 22 August 2002 modifie
the traditional declaration of faith in the coming of the Messiah (I
believe with a complete faith that the Palestinians want peace") used
Messianic terminology again earlier this week at the Knesset, saying that he
saw "the sparks of the beginning of Gaza-Bethlehem First" . It would
appear from developments since then that just as the proverbial light at the
end of the tunnel may be the headlight of the approaching freight train, the
"spark" of Gaza-Bethlehem First may be heralding Palestinian fire.]

By Tamara Traubman and Tsahar Rotem, Ha'aretz Correspondents and Ha'aretz
Service 5 September 2002

Two soldiers were killed and four others were wounded in two separate
attacks Thursday morning in the Gaza Strip.

In the first attack, First Lieutenant Malik Grifat, 24, from the town of
Zarzir, was killed and another was wounded after two gunmen opened fire on
troops in the northern Gaza Strip, between the settlements of Dugit and
Nissanit.

In a second attack, one soldier was killed and three others wounded when an
explosive device detonated under a Markava 2 tank near the Kissufim Crossing
between Israel and Gaza. The wounded were taken by helicopter to Soroka
Hospital in Be'er Sheva.

This was the third Gaza Strip incident this year in which an Israeli tank
has been involved in a lethal attack. In February, an 80-kilogram bomb
detonated under a Merkava 3 tank as it was traveling on a road between the
Netzarim settlement and Karni checkpoint, killing three doldiers and
wounding a fourth. The following month, three soldiers were killed and two
others wounded when a bomb exploded under a Merkava tank near the Nitzanim
settlement.

The second soldier injured in the attack near Dugit sustained
light-to-moderate injuries. He was evacuated to Barzilai Medical Center in
Ashkelon.

One of the gunmen was shot dead by troops in the ensuing firefight. The army
reported that the shots were fired from a Palestinian school.

Two mortar shells were fired overnight at the Gush Katif settlement bloc in
Gaza and a Kassam rocket was fired into the northern part of the Strip,
Israel Radio reported. There were no injuries in the attacks.