Israeli Forces Kill 9 in Gaza Incursion

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, January 26, 2003

Israeli Forces Kill 9 in Gaza Incursion

Israeli forces with tanks and helicopters moved deep into Gaza City early Sunday, killing nine Palestinians in exchanges of fire, a large-scale assault just three days before Israel's election.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Israeli forces with tanks and helicopters moved deep into Gaza City early Sunday, killing nine Palestinians in exchanges of fire, a large-scale assault just three days before Israel's election.

It was the highest toll in Gaza in five months, and the incursion was the deepest into Gaza City in more than two years of fighting. Tanks were seen a half a mile from Palestine Square, which marks the center of the city of about 300,000.

Late Saturday, Israeli tanks entered the city from three directions, as helicopter warships fired machine guns at targets and at crowds of people in the streets, including gunmen, witnesses and security officials said.

Nine Palestinians were killed and 42 wounded, eight critically, hospital officials said. It was the bloodiest day in the Gaza Strip since August, when 13 people were killed in an Israeli attack on the southern city of Khan Younis. Casualties were being brought to Gaza's Shifa Hospital in cars and ambulances.

The Israeli military said its forces in Gaza came under heavy rifle and anti-tank fire, and soldiers returned the fire.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed that its fighters blew up three Israeli tanks with explosives. The Israeli military denied the claim.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, running for re-election, stood to benefit from an upsurge of violence as Tuesday's elections approached. In the past, hard-line parties like Sharon's Likud have benefited from spurts of violence, as Israelis seek a tough response.

The Likud and its allies are ahead in the polls, and Sharon is expected to form a new government after the voting, but Likud leaders say they're concerned that they might still not have enough electoral strength to form a stable ruling coalition.

During the incursion, Israeli forces blew up the two-story house of a Hamas militant and were approaching the houses of two others involved in an attack on a Jewish settlement in Gaza, Palestinians said.

Also, several metal workshop in the same area were blown up. Israelis charge that Palestinians use the workshops to produce weapons, including mortars and rockets.

Early Sunday, witnesses said nine Israeli tanks took up positions in the center of Beit Hanoun, a town at the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces blew up four bridges a day earlier. Palestinians have been firing rockets and mortars from Beit Hanoun at Jewish settlements and nearby Israeli towns in recent days.

As the Israeli incursion in Gaza City was in progress, Maj. Gen. Abdel Razek Majaidie, head of Palestinian security in Gaza, accused Sharon of "adding a new page to his dark record. This crime against innocent civilians is another part of his continuous war against the Palestinian people and Palestinian homeland."

The incursion began after 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) Saturday, with about 35 tanks moving toward the center of Gaza City from three directions, witnesses and security officials said.

Palestinian legislator Ziad Abu Amr said he saw 10 tanks drive through his street. Another resident, Mohammed Tafesh, 29, said electricity was cut in the neighborhood. From mosque loudspeakers across the city, gunmen were called into the streets to wage "holy war" against the Israelis.

Two helicopter gunships fired machine guns toward armed men. In one incident, gunmen fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli armored vehicle, drawing Israeli tank fire. Tafesh said the gunmen got away.

Source: agencies

Questions?Comments? Click here

Three Israelis Killed in Palestinian Ambush Near Hebron

Beijing to Cancel 'Hotels for Hosting Foreign Visitors' ( 4 Messages)

Chinese Bid Farewell to Outworn Doctrine of Egalitarianism ( 10 Messages)

Can US Strategic Intention be Realized? ( 23 Messages)

How's US$52.7bn Foreign Investment Introduced Into China? ( 14 Messages)

Bush Rejects China Mechanical Device Import Quota ( 12 Messages)

Foreign Museums Refuse to Return Cultural relics, Chinese Experts in Action ( 11 Messages)