Israel Raids Gaza Strip Town and Camp

12/01/2003| IslamWeb

Israeli occupation troops raided a Gaza Strip  town and a refugee camp early Sunday, killing a resistance man and an apparent bystander and destroying several metal workshops the occupation army said were used for making weapons.Fourteen Palestinians were wounded in exchanges of gunfire. Palestinians said the operation in the Khan Younis refugee camp was the most extensive there in nearly 28 months of fighting. Tanks and armored vehicles rumbled into the camp after midnight, crushing cars, tearing up roads and damaging several homes, witnesses said.

Near the West Bank town of Hebron, Palestinians shot at an Israeli tanker truck, and civilian security guards in the truck returned fire, killing a Palestinian resistance man, who was identified as an activist in the Islamic resistance group Hamas, the occupation army said.

The attack on the truck came a day after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat  asked resistance groups to stop attacks on Israeli civilians in the run-up to Israel's Jan. 28 general election.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon  on Sunday dismissed Arafat's call, saying it proved it is impossible to negotiate with the Palestinian leader.

"Prior to the elections, long before the elections, it's possible to murder," Sharon said sarcastically, speaking at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting. "Close to the elections, it's best to stop and after the elections, it's desirable to continue."

In the Khan Younis raid, gun battles erupted between occupation soldiers and resistance men. At least one Palestinian was killed and 14 were wounded in the fighting, Palestinian hospital officials said.

Occupation troops blew up six metal workshops used to manufacture weapons, the occupation army said.

Palestinians denied the workshops were used for weapons-making. They said the occupation army destroyed at least 12 workshops and a six-car garage, damaging several nearby houses, leaving some uninhabitable and forcing 45 people into the streets.

Ibrahim Zakzuk, 55, who owns one of the destroyed workshops, said he lost 50,000 dlrs worth of equipment and would have to lay off five employees, adding to the already high numbers of Palestinians who are out of work due to the ongoing violence.

"I challenge Sharon and his army to bring to the world any evidence that this small industrial area was used on any day to produce weapons. It's war against our economy and against our small industry and small businesses," Zakzuk said.

Israeli occupation forces also raided the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, destroying a house that belonged to an Islamic Jihad activist who was killed while attacking an Israeli ship in November, the occupation army said. Palestinians said a second house was demolished, but the occupation army did not confirm this.

A 45-year-old Palestinian was killed in the Beit Hanoun operation, Palestinian hospital officials said. Relatives said the man walked out of his home to see the aftermath of the raid and was shot in the head as occupation troops withdrew from the area.

The occupation army said it fired on an armed Palestinian, but did not say if he was hit.

Later Sunday, Palestinian resistance men fired three short-range rockets from Gaza at the Israeli town of Sderot in the southern Negev Desert. The rockets landed in an open field, the occupation army said.

Also Sunday, about 30 tanks and jeeps entered the West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian officials said. Occupation soldiers conducted house-to-house searches in the eastern sector of the city in an apparent attempt to track down resistance men, they said.

In the past six months, Israel has reoccupied every major West Bank town and city, except Jericho, in response to Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians. They often impose a curfew, search homes and hunt for resistance men.

Israel's Cabinet decided to step up occupation army operations against suspected Palestinian resistance men after two resistance bombers blew themselves up in Tel Aviv last week, killing 22 people.

Late Saturday, two Palestinians boys, ages nine and 13, were captured after they entered the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in Gaza, the occupation army said. The boys, who carried knives, tried to enter a house belonging to the settlement's rabbi.

The two ran away when the rabbi opened fire at them, the officials said.

After a short chase, the two were captured by security occupation forces. The occupation army said one of the young intruders was wounded during the chase. No Israelis were injured.

Last week, three Palestinian teenagers were killed as they tried to infiltrate a Jewish settlement. Relatives said that one had expressed the desire to die while attacking Israelis.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian flag waves over the destroyed house in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun Sunday Jan. 12, 2003. Israeli occupation forces raided two Gaza Strip  towns early Sunday, exchanging fire with Palestinian resistance men and killing two people. The operations followed a call by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat  to stop attacks against Israeli civilians in the two weeks before Israel's Jan. 28 general election. Israeli occupation forces raided Beit Hanoun overnight, destroying a house that belonged to an Islamic Jihad resistance man who was killed while attacking an Israeli ship in November, the occupation army said. (AP Photo/Murad Seze