7 - 13 March 2002
Issue No.576
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 7 - 13 March 2002 Issue No.576 |
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War on Gaza
ISRAEL yesterday shelled Palestinian police and civilian targets in Gaza by land, air and sea, killing seven people, including three civilians.
PAX SHARON: As Arab leaders scramble to put together viable initiatives for peace ahead of their summit later this month, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was pursuing a different policy this week. Gaza and the West Bank were the targets of one of the most violent sieges by Israeli forces in recent months. Pictured left, Israeli soldiers conduct house-to-house searches in Balata refugee camp near Nablus (photo: AFP)
The overnight shelling was the most intense Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip for months. A UN- run school for the blind and Yasser Arafat's home in Gaza City were severely damaged.
In a West Bank village three Palestinian pupils -- one aged 12 -- were seriously wounded when Israeli soldiers fired on villagers throwing stones at an Israeli convoy, the principal of their school said.
The attack against Gaza came after Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday reaffirmed an earlier decision to escalate its relentless military strikes against Palestinian targets.
In the past week, one of the bloodiest since the Al- Aqsa uprising began, 66 Palestinians and 31 Israelis have died.
The Cabinet also decided to further tighten travel restrictions, banning Palestinian traffic on most West Bank roads. And Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has postponed next week's visits to Spain and England "in light of recent events."
In Gaza, warships, helicopters and tanks shelled Palestinian targets in several locations. Troops commandeered three apartment buildings in a refugee camp, demolished two Palestinian police stations and destroyed the home of a fugitive militia leader.
Al-Aqsa Brigade, the military wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility for the death of two Israeli soldiers while resisting the Israeli assault.
The heaviest fighting was in the villages of Abassan and Karrara in the southern strip. Witnesses said 12 tanks moved into the area, drawing intense Palestinian fire. Helicopter gunships backed the tanks, sending civilians scrambling for cover.
A 40-year-old Palestinian woman was killed by a shot in the back and two other civilians critically wounded, Palestinian doctors said. The two wounded men subsequently died after Israeli troops barred ambulances from reaching them.
After daybreak on Wednesday, Israeli F-16 warplanes flattened a two-storey office building used by the Palestinian police chief in Gaza. Israeli navy gunboats fired at a Palestinian base on the coast north of Gaza City, killing four members of the Palestinian naval police. One officer died after a shell hit his jeep, and the bodies of three of his colleagues were discovered later on Wednesday in the rubble of the base.
On Tuesday five Israelis were killed in a shooting attack on a restaurant, a suicide bombing on a bus and a West Bank road ambush. Six Palestinians were also killed, including two assailants and three Palestinian militiamen whose car was hit by an Israeli missile.
One of those killed was Mohamed Abu Halaweh, senior aide to Marwan Barghouti. Israel claimed Abu Halaweh was responsible for several attacks.
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