Two Palestinians Killed in Clashes

03/12/2002| IslamWeb

Israeli occupation troops shot dead a Palestinian resistance man trying to enter an internationally illegal Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip on Monday, and a Palestinian teenager was killed when a group of stone throwers clashed with occupation troops in the West Bank town of Jenin. In Gaza, the Palestinian resistance man - disguised in Israeli occupation army uniform - opened fire on an occupation army outpost near the internationally illegal Jewish settlement of Netzarim, but occupation troops killed him within a minute, according to occupation army sources.

The attacker , carrying an assault rifle and eight grenades, was from the Palestinian resistance Jihad movement, the group said.

JENIN CLASHES

In Jenin, Motez Odeh, 16, was killed and 23 other Palestinians were injured when hundreds of Palestinians began throwing stones, household items, and metal objects at eight Israeli armored vehicles that entered the town, witnesses said.

Palestinian hospital officials said Odeh died from a bullet in the shoulder.

A tank patrolling the town was covered with paint, a trash can and large rocks on its turret from the melee. Another armored vehicle had a metal railing on it, thrown there by the crowd.

Israeli occupation army officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said occupation army troops attempting to enforce a curfew were shot at and returned fire after one occupation soldier was slightly wounded.

During the confrontation, a Palestinian youth climbed atop an armored vehicle, and was shot by occupation soldiers who suspected he was carrying explosives, the official said.

YAALON DENIES REMARKS ON DISMANTELLING INTERNATIONALLY ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS

In another development Monday, the Israeli media reported that the occupation army's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, advocated the ousting of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and said most Israeli settlements would have to be evacuated as part of any peace deal. Yaalon and other occupation army officials quickly denied the reports.

According to the Haaretz daily newspaper and Israel Radio, Yaalon said Israelis and Palestinians know that "at the end of the day, most of the settlements will be evacuated."

Yaalon made the remarks in Washington in a closed-door address at the Institute for Near East policy, according to Haaretz.
Yaalon denied the report, calling it a "total misrepresentation of what I said."

He sought to clarify his position Monday, saying that before the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000, Palestinian officials knew there was a "willingness to dismantle most of the settlements," but despite that, no agreement was reached.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been a leading supporter of the settlements for decades and has never showed willingness to dismantle them. More than 200,000 Israelis live in about 150 settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, territory the Palestinians are demanding for a future Palestinian state.

On the issue of Arafat, Sharon's Cabinet has held multiple debates on exiling him but has so far taken no action.

In his remarks, Yaalon also criticized U.S policy in the Mideast, according to Haaretz. He said U.S. pressure on Israel to end a September siege on Arafat's Ramallah compound contradicted statements by President Bush, who has called for a new Palestinian leadership.

Yaalon said the U.S. pressure on Israel to back down had strengthened Arafat and weakened the stance of those calling for reform within the Palestinian Authority.

Arafat, speaking from Ramallah, accused Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz of pushing for stepped up military operations against the Palestinians. "There is a plan declared by Mofaz, which he has already started to implement as you see, with escalations every day," Arafat said.

PLANS TO DEMOLISH 15 PALESTINIAN HOUSES IN HEBRON

In the West Bank city of Hebron, the Israeli army has issued warrants to seize 15 Palestinian homes as part of a plan to demolish them and widen a road connecting a holy site to a nearby Jewish settlement.

The road, known among Israelis as "Worshippers' Way," was where Palestinian resistance activists ambushed Israeli occupation army forces on Nov. 16, killing 12. Sharon announced soon after the attack that Israel would widen the road connecting the settlement of Kiryat Arba with Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, a site holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians.

Palestinians plan to appeal to Israel's Supreme Court, but the demolitions could begin as early as Tuesday.

BRITISH PATHOLOGIST SAYS HOOK DIED OF A GUNSHOT WOUND TO THE ABDOMEN

In Britain, government pathologist Dr. Michael Heath told an inquest hearing that a British aid worker shot to death in a battle between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian resistance men died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Iain Hook, 54, a project manager for UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, died Nov. 22 in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

Israel has acknowledged its occupation soldiers shot Hook. They claimed they fired on the walled U.N. compound because Palestinian resistance activists were firing at them from inside, and occupation soldiers thought Hook was carrying a gun. Hook was the first senior U.N. official killed in more than two years of Mideast fighting

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian Kalid Nasir is comforted by friends after identifying his dead friend Ashraf Masri in the hospital of Gaza City, Monday Dec. 2, 2002. At least one Palestinian died and three were injured during clashes with Israeli army soldiers at the Erez checkpoint Monday. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhau