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Six Israelis killed in bus station attackSharon: Effort to 'influence the Israeli electoral campaign'
BEIT SHEAN, Israel (CNN) -- Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire Thursday at a bus station and adjacent Likud party polling station in Beit Shean, Israel, killing six Israelis, according to police. Four of the Israelis died at the scene, and 2 died later of their wounds. The two Palestinians were killed in an exchange of gunfire with Israeli police and soldiers who were at the bus station, Israeli officials said. Media reports identified five of the dead as Haim Amar, 56; David Peretz, 48; Mordechai (Moti) Avraham, 44; and Yaakov Lari, 35, all of Beit Shean, and Shaul Ziberstein, 36, from Upper Nazareth. More than 30 Israelis were wounded in the terror attack, rescue officials said. Among the wounded were three adult children of Knesset member and former Deputy Prime Minister David Levy. A family spokesman said Shimon Levy is in serious condition, while Uri and Jecky Levy were lightly hurt. David Levy was in Tel Aviv at the time of the shooting. Police said two Palestinian gunmen drove up to Beit Shean's central bus station and opened fire at people standing at a bus stop. Israeli soldiers at the bus stop returned fire. The head of the Likud party office said people waiting in line to vote in the party's primary election were wounded by explosions and gunfire. He said there were two explosions followed by about 15 minutes of gunfire. "Suddenly we heard two loud blasts, probably grenades, and massive shooting, bursts, towards the voters. People ran away," Rafi Ben-Sheetrit told the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz. (More witness accounts)
In the primary, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon defeated Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Likud party leadership. (Full story) At a news conference, Sharon charged that "Arab terrorists" are attempting to "influence the Israeli electoral campaign and our very democratic system." Sharon urged Israeli voters not to be intimidated and to "go vote." Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the shooting in a call to the Reuters news agency. The caller said the attack was in revenge for the killing of two militant leaders -- one from Al Aqsa and another from the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas -- in the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday. Israel has denied being involved in those deaths. Palestinian Cabinet member Saeb Erakat condemned the shooting, saying the Palestinian Authority opposes all attacks on civilians. He pleaded for help from the so-called Mideast "quartet" -- the United Nations, United States, Russia and European Union -- to restart peace talks with Israel. A number of schools near the scene of the shooting were under a police lockdown. Beit Shean is in the northern Jordan Valley near the Israel-Jordan border.
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