Two children killed in Hebron assassination bid

Israeli helicopters killed two children including a toddler by blasting missiles at cars in a crowded street in the West Bank city of Hebron yesterday in a bungled attempt to assassinate a suspected member of Islamic Jihad.

Burhan Himouneh, who was three, and Shadi Ahmed Arafi, 13, died of severe head injuries in the attack, which came shortly after Ariel Sharon, Israel's Prime Minister, met the US mediator Anthony Zinni to urge him to continue his mission to the region.

The killing of the boys, who will be buried later today, caused fury in the highly volatile city of Hebron and dented Israel's growing internat-ional publicity campaign to present Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, as the sole source of violence.

The attack was immediately cited by Palestinian officials as further evidence that Mr Sharon was heightening the conflict to consolidate Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and had no interest in negotiations.

They also blamed the United States for giving the Israeli Prime Minister approval to take what measures he saw fit as "self-defence" in response to three Hamas suicide bombings that killed 26 Israelis little more than a week ago.

Israeli death squads have assassinated more than 70 Palestinians in the past 13 months, including 26 passers-by, despite condemnation from the international community – including Britain – and leading human rights groups, who say that such killings are illegal under international law.

Yesterday, the European Union issued a statement on the Middle East after a meeting of its foreign ministers, which included a call to Israel to stop extra-judicial killings.

The attack happened at about 2.30pm in Hebron's main al-Salam Street. Hisham Sharabati, a Palestinian human rights worker who visited the scene shortly afterwards, said: "It is a populated area, and the missiles landed next to a set of traffic lights. There were several of them. One missile struck the ground, creating a create about one metre deep."

By nightfall, Israel's army press office had yet to come up with an explanation for the killings. They followed Sunday's meeting of Israel's cabinet – held, ominously, at Israeli army headquarters in the occupied West Bank – which decided to increase military operations against the Palestinians, including air attacks, invasions of "Area A" Palestinian-run territory, and assassinations.

The Israeli army later issued a statement saying that it "makes every effort to avoid the death of innocent civilians, and deeply regrets such loss of life." It claimed that the man targeted in the attack was responsible for several past attacks on Israelis and was planning more.

Recently, the principal targets have been Mr Arafat's security structure, although the Israeli army has for months made no secret of its policy of killing alleged militant leaders, arguing that it is forced to act because Mr Arafat has failed to respond to its demands to jail the ringleaders.

The intended target of yesterday's extra-judicial killing – which injured seven other people, several seriously – appears to have been Mohammed Ayoub Sidr, aged 26, an activist for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The group has claimed responsibility for the two most recent suicide bombings inside Israel, which injured more than a dozen civilians and killed the perpetrators. Reports from Hebron said that the toddler and his father were in the same car as Mohammed Ayoub Sidr when it was hit by one of the missiles. The two men, who are related by marriage, were seriously wounded, hospital officials said. The 13-year-old boy, Shadi Arafi, and his father, Ahmed, were travelling in a taxi behind the car when it was hit by the missile.

At their meeting yesterday, the EU foreign ministers gave a mandate to Javier Solana, their foreign policy chief, to make yet another trip to the region. He was expected to arrive last night.

They also issued a strong appeal to both sides. Their statement branded Hamas and Islamic Jihad as "terrorist networks" for the first time – following an American lead – and demanded that Mr Arafat end armed attacks on Israel. They also called on Israel to stop extra-judicial killings, lift closures, freeze settlement building and "end the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure".