What is Israel doing about attacks on Gilo and other Jerusalem neighborhoods?
Gilo is a residential neighborhood of Jerusalem, with about 40,000 inhabitants. Together with other Jerusalem neighborhoods, Gilo has been subjected to indiscriminate sniper and machine gun attacks from neighboring areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Israel condemns in the strongest possible terms these repeated attacks by Palestinians on homes of innocent Israelis. The unprovoked and deliberate firing on civilian targets is utterly reprehensible. The attacks against Gilo have been launched from the adjacent Christian Arab village of Beit Jala. Israel believes that these attacks are a deliberate attempt by Palestinian militants to draw the Christian world into the conflict by provoking Israeli reprisals which would damage Christian shrines. As a result, Israel has done its utmost to respond to these unprovoked attacks with the greatest possible restraint, pinpointing only those buildings from which the attacks have been launched.
