World - Reuters
Israeli Forces Raid Gaza Refugee Camp
Date: Tue, Aug 10, 2004
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli helicopter fired a missile into a Gaza refugee camp on Wednesday, wounding about 15 people as gunmen confronted an Israeli force demolishing Palestinian homes near a Jewish settlement, witnesses said.
An Israeli military source said the army was carrying out an operation against "terrorist infrastructure" in the Khan Younis camp in the southern Gaza Strip (news - web sites) and the helicopter had fired at an "open area" to ward away armed men.
Violence has surged in Gaza as militants seek to portray Israel's plan to evacuate Jewish settlers next year as a victory. Israel is determined to prevent that by smashing Palestinian armed factions first.
About 10 tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers swept into the camp in the night-time incursion, drawing fire from gunmen, witnesses said.
A helicopter then launched a missile which the witnesses said exploded near a group of Palestinians. Medics said about 15 people -- at least three of them civilians -- were wounded.
Residents fled into the night as Israeli bulldozers demolished homes bordering the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekelim, where witnesses said a security wall is being built. The army has mounted several such raids in the area recently.
Israeli media reports have said the army fears it will have to evacuate Gaza settlers under fire from militants, who have launched frequent mortar bomb and rocket attacks against the Jewish enclaves where some 7,500 Israelis live.
Israel has carried out many aerial missile strikes and ground offensives in Gaza and the West Bank in rolling campaigns to quell Palestinians in revolt since 2000.
PALESTINIAN KILLED IN WEST BANK
In the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian during what a military source described as an army operation.
The source said the troops fired at armed men who approached them, hitting two of them. Palestinian security officials said the soldiers shot at stone-throwers, killing Salim Qusa, 18.
Earlier, Israeli security sources said Israel had put the brakes on a plan to allow Palestinian police in the West Bank to carry arms for the first time in more than three years to deal with internal unrest.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz agreed last Thursday to let some police carry handguns in response to a request from the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites), which says armed officers are needed to restore order after a wave of kidnappings and internal clashes.
But the plan will not be put into action until security chiefs decide whether it risks Israeli lives, the sources said, after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) drew fire from cabinet members opposed to the proposal.
Israel banned Palestinian security members from carrying weapons after accusing them of involvement in the violence.
SOURCE
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