Ax-Wielding Attacker Kills Israeli Teen

(AP)  An ax-wielding Palestinian militant entered a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Thursday and went on a rampage, killing an Israeli teenager and wounding a young boy before fleeing the area.

Authorities said a manhunt was under way for the assailant, who was believed to have been wounded by security guards.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the militant used the ax and a knife in the attack in Bat Ayin, a settlement south of Jerusalem. "No shots were fired," he said.

Security guards wounded the attacker before he fled, said Shaul Goldstein, a settler leader. "The security team here managed to shoot and hit the terrorist, but he managed to escape," he told Army Radio.

Police and military units were searching for the attacker, according to Rosenfeld and army officials. Israeli TV showed images of a large group soldiers in combat gear gathered at an intersection, and the army said all roads around the settlement were closed.

Rescuers on the scene told Israel Radio that a 13-year-old boy was killed and a 7-year-old boy was badly wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The attack was likely to heighten tensions between the Palestinians and Israel's new hard-line government, which has already voiced skepticism about peace negotiations in its first days in office.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was elected to office on a campaign that criticized his predecessor's peace negotiations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Netanyahu has said he will still seek peace, but has given few details about his vision for a final agreement. He has specifically refused to endorse the idea of an independent Palestinian state - a key demand of the Palestinians and the centerpiece of U.S. diplomacy in the region.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said Israeli concessions to the Palestinians would only bring more war. He also rejected the previous government's peace talks, launched at a U.S.-sponsored conference in 2007.

Netanyahu hasn't commented publicly on Lieberman's statement. But a close Netanyahu ally, Cabinet minister Gilad Erdan, said Thursday that Lieberman's comments reflected the position of the prime minister's Likud Party.

Israel's former chief peace negotiator, Tzipi Livni, said Lieberman's scathing rejection of recent negotiations shows the new government is not a partner for peace with the Palestinians.

"What happened yesterday is that the Israeli government announced that Israel isn't relevant, isn't a partner," Livni told Army Radio.

The appointment of the ultranationalist Lieberman has angered Palestinians and raised international concerns because of his hard-line positions on peace and an election campaign that was widely seen as racist.

His comments on Wednesday signaled a difficult road ahead for President Barack Obama's Mideast policy, especially its push for a Palestinian state.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Lieberman early Thursday, according to Lieberman spokeswoman Irena Etinger. The conversation was conducted in a "good atmosphere," and the two agreed to meet as soon as possible, Etinger said. She would not say what issues were discussed.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Lieberman's remarks were an insult to the world powers pushing for peace.

"He has slammed the door in the face of the U.S. and the international community," Erekat said. "It seems to me that this is President Obama's first real test."

[Faith Killer]

I had 3 posts that were negative about Israel pulled from here yesterday and had to jump through hoops to get my password set again- don't say anything bad about ISRAEL or they will SHUT YOU DOWN. CBS has been infiltrated and can no longer be trusted...HARDCORE CENSORSHIP.

[hamiltongrad]

U are so RIGHT !

[hamiltongrad]

Everyone knows that there is nothing decent about the PLO, Fatah and esp. HAMAS.

[cbsblogger]

Your comment is unworthy of a post and misses the point of the article. Where is your outrage that 2 children were attacked and one murdered with an axe?
Posted by presjfk at 7:11 AM : Apr 2, 2009
===================================

It takes a real man to kill children.....
Posted by apitaly at 5:36 AM : Apr 2, 2009

Sadly that's been the recruitment motto of the IDF for years.
Posted by cbsblogger at 6:07 AM : Apr 2, 2009
================================
My comment about the IDF was in response to the above comment "it takes a real man to kill children" . The Israeli IDF have been treating Palestinian children like roaches for years.

Then they wonder why the resentment. They kill them for being non-Jews in their own land. Frankly I'm tired of hearing propaganda from the IsraelUSA media about the woes of a 2 bit Israeli government that makes its own problems by perpetrating gross acts of murder, genocide and land thievery on innocent civilians.

[hamiltongrad]

This is what we expect from the Palest. - to kill a 7 year old. Barbarians. Evil. Not to be trusted.

[kbbpll]

Since the assaillant was not captured, how do we know he is a "Palestinian militant" and/or a "terrorist"? Maybe his own two kids were killed by the Israelis a couple months ago, and we should just call him a "grieving parent".

[The-Wrongs-of-Man]

Rout him out of his stinking hole, string him up, then hand a hatchet to the boy's parents.

Animals like this are best torched in the crib, but how to know? Good men do nothing like this.

[iDragon13]

"Your missing a few of the facts truthseeker. The Israeli's were being fired upon from the school. I know...just a minor detail."

Ok, the Israelis attacked schools with women and children in them...knowingly and without regard for innocent loss of life. I understand they were being attacked from or near the schools and Hamas was deliberately using these people as human shields. YOU STILL DON'T ATTACK THE SCHOOL the way they did. You conduct surgical ground assaults and limit innocent casualties. That's the outrageous part here. They have the technology and numbers to do it right and they chose not to. Couple that with the recent revelation into the mindset of the Israeli military (see t-shirts) and we have an Israeli approach to this issue which mimics that of Nazi Germany. If it walks like a duck...

[presjfk]

The only way to rid the world of these killing machines is to get rid of the Koran and Islam.
krotek

The USSR did just that and the violence against their own people was worse than the war they fought against the Nazis. Humans will always find a reason to kill one another. If not religion, they will find another excuse.

[presjfk]

" Sadly that's been the recruitment motto of the IDF for years.
Posted by cbsblogger"

The IDF has made mistakes, especially in the heat of battle. But it is also true that the IDF has sent Palestinians to Israeli hospitals, even bombers and murderers of soldiers and civilians. When they demolish homes, which I am against, they call and warn the occupants. They have put up with attacks against them and not fired a shot in thousands of incidents. If you were armed and 50 people were throwing rocks at you, what would you do? Probably shoot but the IDF has not in most cases.

Your comment is unworthy of a post and misses the point of the article. Where is your outrage that 2 children were attacked and one murdered with an axe?