Israel Assassinates A Resistance Leader, Kills 6 Others, Arrests 30 & Expels 9 Families From East Jerusalem

23/04/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Amnesty International Calls for A War Crimes Inquiry into Jenin Events.
Palestinians Accuse Israel of Planning to Kill Arafat and Install a 'Puppet Government.
Palestinian & Israeli Officials Discuss Stand Off at Church of Nativity.
Resistance Executes Three Collaborators.


STORYAt what looks like the beginning of the second phase of its savage offensive against the people of Palestine, Israel Monday and early Tuesday, assassinated two Resistance leaders, killed 6 others, arrested 30 and expelled nine families from east Jerusalem. Amnesty International called Monday for an international war crimes inquiry into the events surrounding the incursion into Jenin. At the same time, Palestinian and Israeli officials met in Bethlehem to try to resolve the stand off at the Church of Nativity now on its 22nd day. The Resistance has meanwhile executed three collaborators in Hebron Al-Khalil, as the siege of Arafat's compound in Ramallah remains as tight as ever.

OUTCOME OF FIRST PHASE OF SAVAGE OFFENSIVE.

Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon announced Sunday the end of the "first phase" of Operation Defensive Walls, which saw Israeli troops withdraw from most of the Palestinian towns it reoccupied over the three-week duration of the phase. Palestinians say the withdrawal is a sham as Israel maintains a suffocate siege of the cities and towns it says it has withdrawn from.

The first phase of the savage Israeli offensive claimed the lives of 30 Israeli soldiers according to occupation army count.

Almost 5,000 Palestinians were arrested, 1,800 of whom are still behind bars, including 400 men on Israel's so-called wanted list. More than 200 Palestinians were killed according to medical and other sources, but more are feared buried beneath the rubble in the battle-scarred towns and the Jenin camp.

ISRAEL RESUMES ITS INTERNATIONALLY CONDEMNED EXTRA-JUDICAL KILLINGS OF PALESTINIAN LEADERS. (Read photo caption below)

In Hebron, Al Khalil, an Israeli assassins squad fired missiles from a helicopter on a car killing Marwan Zuloum, local commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Zuloum's bodyguard also died.

Israel's helicopter missile strike in Hebron was the first such attack since occupation troops and tanks pulled out of most West Bank cities to positions encircling them on Sunday.

Crowds took to the streets of Hebron screaming for revenge after the men's charred bodies were pulled from the burning wreckage of their vehicle early on Tuesday.

Palestinian officials accused Israel of carrying out an assassination. Previous killings of high-ranking militants have often led to deadly Resistance attacks on Israelis.

THIRTY PALESTINIANS ARRESTED IN THE WEST BANK

The Israeli occupation army said Tuesday it had arrested 26 Palestinians in the West Bank overnight on suspicion of terrorist activities", while an AFP correspondent saw four more picked up.

A military communiqué said nine were arrested in the village of Hussan, seven in Surif and five in Qader, all in the Bethlehem Area. Five more were seized at Yatta, south of Hebron, while an AFP correspondent saw four arrested during searches at Daharyeh, also near Hebron.

SIX PALESTINIANS KILLED IN WEST BANK AND GAZA

Intifadha confrontations meanwhile continued elsewhere, with three Palestinians reported Killed by Israeli occupation troops in the West Bank, two of them in a firefight, which also left an Israeli soldier dead, and three more in the Gaza Strip, one of who was reportedly trying to storm a Jewish settlement.

PALESTINIANS & ISRAELIS TO DISCUSS SITUATION AT CHURCH OF NATIVITY

Israeli and Palestinian officials were to meet later Tuesday in a bid to end the three-week standoff at the church.

Palestinian legislative council member Salah al-Taamari said Yasser Arafat had given his approval for the meeting in Bethlehem, where about 200 Palestinians have been holed up inside the church along with around 30 monks since Israeli troops invaded the town on April 2.

  Al-Taamari, who has been negotiating to try to settle the crisis, said Saturday that those inside the church have run out of
food and water, accusing Israeli soldiers of blocking supplies of food and medical supplies while electricity had also been cut.

Shooting erupted there on Monday night and a Palestinian inside the church told AFP by telephone that Israelis tossed a tear-gas grenade into the compound at the start of the gun battle, which caused no injuries.

RAMALLAH SIEGE AS TIGHT AS EVER

At the other hotspot where Israel has maintained military Presence despite the withdrawal, 10 foreign pro-Palestinian
activists quit Arafat's headquarters and faced being expelled.

Israel is demanding the surrender of people linked to the killing of its tourism minister last October, who it says are with
Arafat, and around 30 militants on its wanted list holed up in the church.

Palestinian officials have accused Israel of seeking to kill Arafat and set up a "puppet government".

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES INQUIRY

Amnesty International called Monday for an international war crimes inquiry into the events surrounding the incursion into Jenin following its own fact-finding mission.

The controversial Israeli operation in Jenin and its neighbouring camp has led to a dramatic drop in anti-Israeli attacks, but Palestinians say Sharon has stocked up a long-term legacy of hatred, which is likely to lead to more violence in the future.

EAST JERUSALEM EXPULSIONS

Israel has meanwhile expelled Palestinian families from east Jerusalem. Israeli police late Monday expelled nine Palestinian families living in houses in occupied east Jerusalem that have been claimed by Jewish settlers, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

A court in Jerusalem had several days ago authorized the expulsion of the families who the settlers claim live in houses they have acquired in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Police declared the area a closed zone after dozens of Palestinians and Israeli peace activists staged protests against the expulsions.

Several extreme right-wing Jewish religious groups have been buying up land and property in mainly Arab east Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in the 1967 war and subsequently annexed.

The fate of Jerusalem was one of the main stumbling blocks that led to the collapse of a peace summit in Camp David in July 2000, just two months before the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule.
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PHOTO CAPTION:

Palestinians gather around the body of Marwan Zalloum, commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade militia in Hebron, at al-Ahly hospital in the southern West Bank town of Hebron, Tuesday April 23, 2002. Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a car in Hebron late Monday assassinating Zalloum and Samir Abu Ragap, Zalloum's bodyguard. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)