Israel Moves Tanks Into Central Gaza Strip & Eases Military Presence in Bethlehem

26/11/2002| IslamWeb

Israeli tanks backed by helicopter gunships swept into the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, battling Palestinian resistance men and demolishing the home of a wanted resistance activist. Occupation forces turned their attention to the densely populated coastal strip, invading the town of Deir al-Balah and its refugee camp, after tightening the screws on West Bank cities following a resurgence of Palestinian resistance attacks.

Several dozen tanks and armored vehicles rolled into Deir al-Balah, near a bloc of internationally illegal Jewish settlements, under cover of darkness as helicopters hovered overhead, witnesses said.

They said Israeli occupation forces exchanged heavy fire with resistance men in the town's refugee camp. Hospital officials said at least one Palestinian was wounded.

Occupation troops blew up the home of an Islamic resistance activist from Hamas -- the main group behind a wave of resistance bombings -- who had been wanted by Israel for several years, residents said.

There was no word on whether anyone was in the house at the time. The occupation army also seized a neighboring village.

ISRAELI OCCUPATION TROOPS KILL AN 8-YEAR OLD PALESTINIAN BOY IN NABLUS

Hours earlier, troops shot dead an eight-year-old Palestinian boy during a clash with stone-throwers in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Monday, witnesses said.

Israeli occupation army sources had no information on the boy's death. "But there were many disturbances in the area. Two explosive devices were thrown at our forces and they returned fire," one source told Reuters.

OCCUPATION TROOPS SCALE BACK PRESENCE IN BETHLEHEM

In Bethlehem, Israeli occupation troops scaled back their presence on Monday after arresting dozens of alleged Palestinian resistance activists but told residents re-emerging from their homes to go back inside because a curfew was still in effect, witnesses said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is juggling conflicting pressures to look tough before forthcoming general elections, but to avoid escalating the conflict to help Washington win Arab support for possible military action against Iraq.

Sharon, fighting a challenge from hawkish Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a party leadership vote set for Thursday, sent the army into Bethlehem on Friday after a resistance bomber from the area killed 11 bus passengers in nearby Jerusalem.

The occupation army said it had arrested 40 Palestinians, including five would-be bombers, in Bethlehem.

Aides to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat say Sharon is bent on destroying Palestinian self-rule institutions created under interim peace deals during the 1990s. Israel says it would withdraw troops if Arafat cracked down on militant violence.

Polls show Sharon will beat Netanyahu in the Likud primary on Thursday and cruise to victory in a snap general election called for January 28.

Israel's occupation of Bethlehem ended in August under a deal in which Palestinian police pledged to crack down on resistance activists. Three months of quiet ensued, but after Thursday's bombing Israel said little had been done to prevent the activists rebuilding and it renounced the security agreement.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinians shout anti-Israeli slogans as they carry the body of dead Palestinian boy Jihad Faqeeh during his funeral in the West Bank city of Nablus, November 25, 2002. Faqeeh, 8, was killed by Israeli occupation army gunfire during a clash with stone-throwing Palestinians, withesses said. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusi