Israeli Occupation Forces Battle Resistance Men in Gaza

04/04/2003| IslamWeb

Israeli occupation troops with tanks and combat helicopters moved into a Gaza refugee camp Friday, hunting Islamic resistance men and setting off a two-hour gunbattle that left four Palestinians and one occupation soldier wounded. Residents of the Nusseirat refugee camp said Israeli snipers took up positions on rooftops, as occupation troops searched houses. Israeli occupation forces surrounded the house of Abdel Hakim Jahjooh, a member of the resistance Hamas group, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in resistance bombings and shooting attacks. Camp residents said the man was not there.

Israel's occupation army wouldn't say who it was after but said occupation troops failed to turn up the man. Hamas said its fighters used explosives to damage an Israeli tank in the operation. An occupation army spokesman said a few small roadside bombs did not cause any significant damage to the tank or other armored vehicles.

The occupation army said occupation troops returned fire in the direction of Palestinians hurling grenades and firing rifles.

In the West Bank town of Tulkarem, Israel's military arrested a leader of the Islamic Jihad on Friday and was withdrawing occupation forces after a two-day sweep of the town and an adjacent refugee camp.

Occupation forces also arrested the leader of the town's Tanzim, a wing of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

Nearly 1,000 men and teenage boys who were rounded up and questioned on Wednesday in Tulkarem were allowed to return to their homes Friday. The occupation army said they had been kept out of the town to avoid setting off gunbattles as occupation soldiers searched homes.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian demonstrators listen to speeches, as pictures of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein are seen during a demonstration to mark the the first anniversary of the Israeli army's operation 'Defensive Shield' in the center of the West Bank town of Jenin, Thursday on April 3, 2003. Thousands of demontrators marched along the streets and also chanted slogans in support Hussein. (AP Photo/ Enric Marti)