Three Israelis were killed and 10 were wounded in three separate terrorist shooting attacks on Monday. Border Policewoman Galit Arbiv, 21, died of wounds suffered when a terrorist opened fire at a bus stop in Neve Yaacov in northern Jerusalem. Earlier, Avraham Fish, 65, and Aharon Gorov, 46, were killed in a roadside ambush southeast of Bethlehem.

Fish's daughter, Tamara Lipschitz, 33, in her ninth month of pregnancy, was hit in the abdomen by a bullet as she was traveling with the two men on the road between the settlements of Tekoa and Nokdim. The attack occurred shortly after 4 p.m., when terrorists fired on their car some 50 meters from the site where Nokdim resident Sarit Amrani was killed and her husband was seriously wounded in a similar attack last September. Lipschitz's five-year-old daughter, Karine, was not injured in yesterday's shooting.

Upon arrival at Hadassah University Hospital - Ein Kerem, where she works as a nurse in the trauma ward, Lipschitz underwent a caesarian section and gave birth to a healthy baby girl. "Tamara's baby saved her life," said Dr. Alon Pikarski, the surgeon who removed the bullet from Lipschitz's body. He explained that at her late stage of pregnancy, the uterus wall is very thick, and as a result the bullet was unable to penetrate into the womb, or into other vital organs. "Within a week, Tamara is expected to fully recover," he said.

"I feel fine," Lipschitz said afterwards. "I am waiting to be able to see her… I have a beautiful baby but my heart is broken."

The birth of Lipschitz's baby came hours after a pregnant Palestinian woman, shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers at a roadblock near Nablus, gave birth to her own healthy new daughter. Maisoun el-Haiyek, 22, from the village of Zeita, said she started shouting, "Baby, baby," when the car driven by her husband, Muhammad, approached the soldiers. But when the car made repeated attempts to break through the roadblock, soldiers opened fire killing Muhammad and seriously wounding his father. The incident occurred at the same roadblock where pregnant Shadiah Shkadeh, 27, was injured by IDF fire on Sunday. Shkadeh also gave birth to a girl upon reaching a hospital in Nablus.

Earlier in the day, Mordechai Struk, 16, was injured by terrorist gunfire in a drive-by shooting attack near the settlement of Carmel, in the southern Hebron Hills. Struk, son of Hebron Jewish community spokeswoman Orit Struk, was on his way to a Purim party when the terrorists struck. "This is the result of reopening roads to Arab traffic and so-called 'easing' of conditions to the local population," Orit Struk said.

Police, civilians jump Neve Yaacov terrorist
Border Policewoman Galit Arbiv, who joined the force two weeks ago, was one of those who jumped a Palestinian gunman who made his way into the Neve Yaacov neighborhood Monday evening and began firing at pedestrians near a bus stop. Arbiv was critically wounded in the attack, and died Tuesday morning of her injuries. Eight other Israelis were wounded, two seriously, in addition to the wounded terrorist.

"I didn't think twice," area resident Yaron Golan told Maariv. "We jumped on him. I took a hammer and hit him three or four times in the head until he lay down." Maariv reported that the presence of policemen in the area prevented a lynch of the gunman.

Jerusalem Police Chief Cmdr. Mickey Levy said the terrorist came from the nearby neighborhood of Dihyat el-Barid. Levy said three policemen, who were nearby at the time of the attack, heard the gunfire and hurried to stop the gunman, were among the injured. "If it wasn't for the swift actions of the policemen, no doubt that the number of injured would have been much higher," he said.

Neve Yaacov residents have complained of the absence of a security fence between the two neighborhoods. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert promised that the fence would be erected by next week to prevent the "relative ease" with which the terrorist could reach the neighborhood.

Fatah claims responsibility; IDF reimposes blockades
The Fatah's al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for all three terrorist attacks on Monday. A leaflet issued by the organization said the killings were a "gift" to Muhammad el-Haiyek. Other reports suggested that the attacks were planned to mark the end of the forty day mourning period after the targeted killing of Tanzim commander Raed al-Karmi in Tulkarm.

This morning, as a result of yesterday's terror attacks, the IDF reimposed blockades on the Palestinian cities of Bethlehem and Hebron. According to media reports, the army was preparing to resume reprisal raids against the Palestinians, as the outbreak of renewed violence signaled the end to recent efforts to achieve a trial cease-fire between the sides.

Sources in the Defense Ministry reportedly blamed Sunday's cabinet decision restricting PA Chairman Yasser Arafat to Ramallah for reigniting Palestinian violence. Maariv reported that Arafat said, "The Israelis humiliated me," and then gave orders to the Tanzim to resume attacks against Israeli targets.

Even so, Arafat has reportedly bowed to European pressure and called for renewing the Israeli-Palestinian security coordination meetings, Israel Radio reported. A second meeting between the sides, scheduled for Sunday night, was canceled by the Palestinians in response to the Israeli cabinet decision.

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