Witnesses and medics said overnight air strikes
killed seven Palestinians in Khan Younis camp, a bastion of militants. A tank
shell killed two and soldiers shot dead five, including a boy of 11 and two
young men in a stone-throwing crowd.
Three of the Palestinians killed by missiles launched from unmanned drone
aircraft were policemen. Eight of the dead remained unidentified. At least 74
Palestinians and two soldiers were wounded in Israel's tank and infantry thrust
into the camp.
The Israeli army said it was targeting militants responsible for "ceaseless
mortar attacks" on nearby Jewish settlements.
The violence raged hours before parliament was due to begin a two-day debate
on Sharon's move to dismantle all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120
in the West Bank in 2005.
If implemented, it would be Israel's first removal of settlements from
territories occupied in the 1967 Middle East war where Palestinians want to
establish a state.
Polls show most Israelis back the "disengagement" and it is likely to pass
with about 67 of the 120 votes in the Knesset on Tuesday, but only with support
of left-wing opposition members to offset a mutiny by rightists in his Likud
party.
Sharon, a former general, says pulling out of small, coastal Gaza would make
Israel easier to defend and allow it to seal its grip on larger West Bank
settlements, with U.S. approval.
He has cranked up military action to smash Gaza militants and wear down
resistance to his plan from nationalists who contend that it rewards Palestinian
violence while betraying Jews' biblical claims to the land.
PALESTINIANS SUSPICIOUS
Palestinians believe the plan, which has the approval of the United States,
will kill off deadlocked peace negotiations and leave them only impoverished
Gaza and scattered parts of the West Bank, dashing their aspirations to a viable
state.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie denounced the Khan Younis raid and
called for foreign intervention.
"Does this reflect a ... policy of destroying Gaza before evacuating it?"
Qurie said in the West Bank. "The whole world should realize that its statements
of condemnation have become futile. If Israel is a state above the law, the
world should spell this out. If not, it should deter Israel."
Gaza militants see Sharon's plan as a victory after four years of revolt.
Violence has soared in anticipation of an Israeli pullback from Gaza, where some
8,000 Jews live in fortified enclaves among 1.3 million Palestinians.
Israeli police tightened a security cordon around the Knesset in the face of
threats to kill Sharon and planned mass rallies for and against his plan. A
bomb-sniffing dog was led about the chamber, spending the most time under
Sharon's place. Police deployed on every street corner around parliament, some
with assault rifles. Helicopters stood ready to airlift lawmakers if protesters
blocked road access.
Activists erected placards nearby. Pro-settler signs read: "Sharon is tearing
the nation apart." Pro-pullout banners said: "Evacuating settlements means
choosing life.""
In the last-minute battle for the legislators' votes, anti-pullout
campaigners sent them a video of appeals by young Gaza settlers crippled or
bereaved in Palestinian attacks.
Sharon's cabinet approved a bill Sunday to compensate evacuated settlers and
penalize those who resist.
Even if Sharon wins Knesset approval, his government could be toppled by
imminent debate over the 2005 budget, if Likud rebels align with Labor -- which
opposes social spending cuts -- as a way to scuttle the pullout from Gaza.
Moreover, further cabinet votes starting in March will be required to put
disengagement into motion.
