World News 13-10-2000 Mob and Military Violence Sweeps Middle East who: Israeli forces what: Murdered by mob after "taking a wrong turn" where: GAZA when: Yesterday snippet: "The Middle East was plunged into a deepening crisis yesterday," reports The Independent, "as some of the most shocking violence for 30 years reverberated across the region". "After a day of mob and military violence all hope of peace in the Middle East seemed extinguished," says Suzanne Goldenberg in The Guardian. In the morning, two Israeli soldiers took a wrong turn in the Palestinian town of Ramallah mistake and were taken into custody by Palestinian police. But word spread that the soldiers were members of an Israeli "death squad" and a mob descended on the police station. "Palestinian police said they tried to disperse the crowd with shots into the air," says The Express. "Thirteen officers were injured as they tried to keep the mob at bay. But a gang of about 10 men broke through to where the Israelis were held, stabbing them to death in a frenzy that left the killers and the room drenched with blood." In retaliation, Israeli helicopter gunships pounded Ramallah`s police stations, power stations and broadcasting stations with rockets. Meanwhile, in the Yemeni port of Aden, a boat full of explosives blew up alongside US destroyer the USS Cole, killing four or five sailors and injuring at least 36 (although conflicting reports suggest as many as 17 dead). The blast is suspected to have been caused by terrorists protesting at American support for Israel. "Yemen, like other countries in the Middle East, has had daily demonstrations in its cities in support of the Palestinians," says David Usborne in The Independent. "Anti-Israel and, by extension, anti-US, sentiment was simmering." [... more]

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