Israelis expand Gaza incursion to stop rocket fire
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-05 00:48

Israeli tanks thrust deep into densely populated north Gaza on Wednesday to end rocket fire by elusive bands of Palestinian militants, triggering fighting near a major refugee camp that killed at least one Palestinian.

Medics said a 16-year-old youth was killed between Jabalya camp and the adjacent town of Beit Lahiya, and at least 22 other Palestinians were wounded in the clashes as Israel expanded a month-old military campaign against Hamas rocket squads.

Israeli soldiers hold their country's flags as they wait to welcome new immigrants from North America at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport Wednesday Aug. 4, 2004. Some two hundred newcomers from the U.S and Canada arrived in Israel on Wednedsay. More than 1,500 American Jews are scheduled to arrive in Israel during the summer with the help of the Jewish Agency for Israel. [AP]

An Israeli helicopter fired a missile at Hamas militants trying to plant a bomb in the path of soldiers approaching the vast urban Jabalya camp, an Islamist stronghold abutting Gaza City, but no casualties were reported.

Violence has increased in Gaza since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unveiled a plan to evacuate settlers in 2005, with militants keen to prove they chased their foe off occupied land and Israel determined to prevent that by crushing them first.

Israel has also kept a tight military grip on the West Bank where Sharon foresees a more limited pullout, keeping a string of big settlements, under his unilateral plan to "disengage" from some territory Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.

Against Israel : Palestinian women shout anti-Israeli slogans during a demonstration at the entrance of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun against the Israeli army occupation of the town. [AFP]

In the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, Israeli troops firing toward a crowd of Palestinian stone-throwers killed a 29-year-old bystander, witnesses and medics said.

In the southern Gaza refugee camp of Rafah, Palestinian witnesses and medics said a 20-year-old man was killed by Israeli gunfire while returning to his home. The army said there were exchanges of fire with militants in the area at the time.

Military sources said soldiers fired after being shot at by Palestinian gunmen but could not confirm if anyone was hit.

PALESTINIAN PM SAYS ISRAEL BLOCKING SECURITY PLAN

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie accused Israel of obstructing his plan to stop spiraling armed faction anarchy in Palestinian areas by reintroducing effective local policing. He said Israel's incursion into north Gaza was counterproductive.

"There is no security without (our own) ability to impose security," he told reporters in the West Bank.

Hassan Abu Libdeh, Qurie's top adviser, charged that Israel preferred Palestinian disorder to thwart talks on Palestinian statehood in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians fear "disengagement" will deny them land needed for a viable state.

Israeli security sources said Qurie's request for leeway to redeploy armed police would be turned down for the time being.

Israel has no trust in the splintered Palestinian security services, accusing them of involvement in militant attacks.

Palestinian girls from Islamic Jihad carry toy guns as they take part in a demonstration against the ongoing Israeli army operation in the northern Gaza Strip, at the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza City, Saturday, July 31, 2004. The Israeli army has been operating in the northern town of Beit Hanoun for more than one month in an effort to prevent Palestinian militants from firing rockets into Israel. [AP]

Palestinian police have been sidelined for years by the risk of being hit during Israeli army sweeps against militants. Police stations have been demolished in Israeli raids.

The internal Palestinian turmoil reflects a brewing power struggle in anticipation of a vacuum in Gaza after Jewish settlers leave. Youthful pro-reform factions are confronting a ruling old guard seen as corrupt, inept and out of touch.

Armored Israeli forces stormed into the Beit Hanoun area of north Gaza a month ago to stamp out Hamas rocket fire.

Swathes of destruction left by previous raids widened as Israeli bulldozers razed further farmland foliage used by Hamas as cover to launch rockets over the fenced border into Israel.

But the mobile rocket teams have shifted positions and continued to unleash Qassams almost daily into the Israeli town of Sderot. The rockets -- small, crudely built and highly inaccurate -- have caused some damage but few casualties.

Israeli forces have now dug around the Jabalya camp in hopes of driving the rocket squads out of range of Sderot.

The persistent rocket volleys have stirred debate within Israel's security establishment over whether they can be stilled by military means alone. Hamas has vowed to go on raining rockets on Sderot until all Israelis are out of Gaza.

Citing fears for its safety posed by the Israeli incursion, the main United Nations aid agency in Gaza said it was evacuating another 19 of its foreign staff in addition to 20 withdrawn last month, leaving only nine in place.

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