HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel has destroyed the West Bank home of an Islamic militant leader in a measure it says was intended
to deter violence but the United States has said it could fuel the conflict.
The army and Palestinian security sources identified the militant as Mohammed Brewesh, a leader of the Islamic Jihad group which has
carried out suicide bombings and gun attacks on Israelis in a Palestinian uprising now in its third year.
The demolition of the Brewesh home in Beit Khalil, north of Hebron, on Friday was part of a punitive Israeli policy which officials say has
deterred military violence. Palestinians and human rights groups denounce the policy as collective punishment.
"We recognise Israel's need to take legitimate anti-terrorist action," U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "However,
steps such as displacement of people through the demolition of homes and property exacerbate the humanitarian situation, and undermine
trust and
confidence."
In the Rafah refugee camp in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, Israeli tanks stood guard on Friday as bulldozers knocked down four
homes which did not belong to militants, Palestinian witnesses said.
Military sources, however, said the army had destroyed only an empty shack used by militants as a hiding place for explosives and as a
shelter for gunmen shooting on troops.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said earlier this week he feared Israel could exploit a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq to escalate
military attacks on Palestinians. Israel, which reoccupied much of the West Bank last year following suicide bombings, says it acts only in
self-defence.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, elected two years ago on the strength of his hawkish image, faces national polls on January 28. Opinion
polls on Friday showed his rightist Likud party holding on to power despite a cash-for-votes scandal which has prompted a police probe.
WEST BANK TENSIONS HIGH
At a West Bank detention camp late on Thursday, Israeli guards fired tear gas and stun grenades to break up a protest by Palestinian
prisoners over alleged mistreatment.
The army said on Friday several dozen Palestinian prisoners were lightly hurt in disturbances at the Ofer camp, near Ramallah. The number
of inmates has been swollen by Israeli sweeps.
Israeli forces also arrested five Palestinians in the West Bank in their hunt for suspected militants, the army said.
On Thursday, a militant group linked to Arafat's Fatah faction took responsibility for the West Bank killing of a 70-year-old trader from
northern Israel.
Masoud Elon's scorched body was found in a valley near the Jewish settlement of Bekaot. The militant al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said in a
statement to Hizbollah's al-Manar television that it killed a "Jewish settler" to avenge the killing of a Palestinian.
The United States, Israel's guardian ally, has been calling for calm in the Middle East to avoid complicating its plans for a possible military
campaign against Iraq, which Washington accuses of seeking weapons of mass destruction.
The Palestinians obtained self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza under interim deals in 1994-95 but negotiations on a state broke
down in mid-2000, sparking the uprising in which at least 1,760 Palestinians and 676 Israelis have been killed.
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