Lethal Questions, Vexing Answers

By James Kelly

An official report reveals how two terrorists were killed

The report was classified top secret and not even given to the Knesset's Committee for Foreign Affairs and Security. But a meticulously worded 15-paragraph summary released by the Israeli government last week caused enough of a stir. According to a commission appointed by Defense Minister Moshe Arens, two of the four Arab terrorists who hijacked an Israeli bus in April were not slain in the ensuing siege, as originally thought. They were captured alive and killed later while in Israeli hands. Although the two-man panel concluded that no commanding officer had ordered the terrorists murdered, it did not determine who was responsible. That task now belongs to civilian and military authorities. Promised Arens: "Legal action shall be taken against those suspected of illegal acts."

Questions about the fate of the hijackers were raised almost immediately after the bloody episode, which began when four young Arab men seized a bus south of Tel Aviv. They threatened to blow up the bus and its 39 passengers if 25 imprisoned Palestinians were not freed. After an almost ten-hour impasse, Israeli commandos attacked the bus. One passenger was killed, seven wounded. Two terrorists were killed instantly, while the other two, according to an official statement the next day, died "on the way to the hospital," presumably of wounds.

Two Israeli newspaper photographers, however, snapped pictures that showed soldiers and security men hustling two men, one handcuffed and the other with only a trace of blood on his face, away from the scene. Israeli military censors immediately banned publication of the photos, but the editor of Hadashot, a Tel Aviv daily, took one of the pictures to Banny Shuiel, the village in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip from which the terrorists came. Relatives quickly identified the shackled man in the photo as Majid Abu-Gumaa, one of the four dead Palestinians. Only after the New York Times published an account of doubts about how the deaths occurred did Defense Minister Arens ask a retired army major general, Meir Zorea, to lead an inquiry.

After a five-week investigation, which included exhuming the bodies, the commission determined that the two Arabs,

Majid Abu-Gumaa and his cousin, Subhi Abu-Gumaa, had received "severe blows to the head and body" during the assault on the bus. But the two Arabs were still alive when security men took them to an adjacent field for questioning about whether or not the bus was booby-trapped for a delayed explosion. At some point be tween the retaking of the bus and the end of the interrogation, each man suffered "a blow dealt to the back of the head by a blunt instrument," fracturing the skull and killing him.

TIME has learned that as a result of the Zorea report five top-ranking officers and security officials received official reprimands, not because of any direct involvement in the murders but because they were in charge of the rescue operation. "It is easy to judge them now," says a high-ranking Israeli army general. "But when you deal with unpredictable terrorists, explosives and hostages, you do not have the time to play Mr. Nice Guy."

On the film of both photographers, the frame following the picture of the Arab prisoners shows Arens and Chief of Staff Lieut. General Moshe Levy standing near by. That has led some Israelis to wonder whether these officials, who directed the assault on the bus, knew what went on.

The situation was not helped by an unfortunate remark Arens made in a radio interview minutes after the bus was rushed.

"Whoever plans and carries out terror operations of this kind should not expect to come away alive," he said. In fact, it has long been Israeli policy not to kill captured terrorists, partly as an incentive to them not to fight to the end and to prevent retaliation against Israeli soldiers in Arab hands. Interrogation also often provides leads about other guerrilla activities.

Visiting Washington last week, Arens remained unruffled. "If I would have known what was going on, there would have been no need for an inquiry commission," he declared.

--By James Kelly.

Reported by David Halevy/ Jerusalem

With reporting by David Halevy