In the Monday morning assassination of resistance leader Raed Obayat by Israeli special forces, eyewitnesses describe a scene of a badly beaten Obayat, and his companion Ra’ed Sulaiman Abu Joura, being dragged down four flights of stairs while crying out "I am injured! I am injured!", after which Israeli forces shot the two in an ‘execution-style’ assassination.
Palestinian Parliament member Issa Qaraqie issued a strong condemnation of the assassination, and demanded a full immediate international investigation.
updated from:
Israeli army assassinates Raed Obayat, leader of the Aqsa Brigade in Bethlehem
2006-04-03 09:59:50
Israeli army forces assassinated Raed Obayat, 31, leader of the Aqsa Martyr brigades from
Around 5 am, troops, wearing civilian clothes, invaded a building in the nearby town of
To enter the building, troops blew up several doors and chased the two men to the roof of the 7-story-building. Troops opened fire at the two hitting Obayat in the head and in the body. Obayat died on the spot. Eyewitnesses said troops threw his body from the roof.
Other accounts said Obayat was captured alive and was shot at from a short range. The other was wounded and the soldiers took him to an unknown destination.
Apparently troops moved, based on intelligence information, to the location were Obayat was staying. He was claimed wanted by the Israeli security since few years and they were unable to find him.
In their first response, the Israeli military claimed that
On the other hand, the Aqsa-martyr brigade said in a press release that it will respond to the assassination and will attack several targets in retaliation. The press release also called for a general strike to mourn Obayat.
