Mideast Violence Kills 9 Palestinians

12/06/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Joint Palestinian Statement Claims Responsibility for Netzarim Attack in Gaza||Bush Pleases Israelis & Angers Palestinians||Arafat's Headquarters for a Second Day|| STORY: Israeli occupation troops shot and killed five armed Palestinians and a 9-year-old boy in separate incidents near a Jewish settlement.

Just before midnight Tuesday, troops fired on seven armed Palestinians who approached the road leading to the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in Gaza, killing four. Israel Radio reported a fifth attacker later died of his wounds.

In a joint statement, a number of Palestinian Resistance groups in Gaza took responsibility for the attack and said five of their fighters were killed.

Earlier Tuesday, in the same area, 9-year-old Palestinian Hussein Mitwi was killed in his home, a thatched hut, in what his mother said was unprovoked Israeli shooting. An Israeli army watchtower is about 200 yards from the hut, which is part of a Bedouin encampment.

In an earlier statement, the occupation army said its troops near Netzarim came under heavy fire from a nearby Palestinian police post and returned fire. Occupation soldiers destroyed the police post.

Also Tuesday, a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli occupation soldiers after he opened fire on a civilian vehicle in Gaza, and another was killed when a bomb he was planting near the border fence with Israel exploded prematurely.

BUSH PLEASES ISRAELIS & ANGERS PALESTINIANS

The violence Tuesday - in all 9 Palestinians and an Israeli died in several incidents - came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon left Washington after talks with President Bush and Congressional leaders. Bush pleased Israelis and angered Palestinians by criticizing Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian government.

Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman reacted angrily to the results of Sharon's meeting with Bush. It was Sharon's sixth meeting with Bush; Arafat has yet to be invited to the White House.

"I am disappointed," Abdel Rahman said. "I think that President Bush was unfair. ... What is happening daily here is that we are under attack and we are under siege.

ARAFAT'S HEADQUARTERS SURROUNDED FOR A SECOND DAY

"Israeli tanks surrounded Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah for a second day Tuesday but did not enter. Arafat himself was not harmed.(Read photo caption)

Soldiers in Ramallah arrested about 30 Palestinians Tuesday, including Abdel Rahim Malouh, second in command of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the radical PLO group that claimed responsibility for the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister in October.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian youths cross over a barricade made by the Israeli army in the West Bank town of Ramallah Wednesday June 12, 2002. The army lifted the curfew on the besieged town allowing Palestinians to gather food supplies. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasse