A Palestinian was killed as Israeli army continued its policy of raids, arrests and house demolitions. The 17-year-old Palestinian was fatally wounded as the Israeli army staged a new incursion into the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.
Four other Palestinian stone throwers were also injured as some 30 tanks and armored troop carriers moved into the town, with four accompanying bulldozers razing farmland in the area, the sources said, according to AFP.
Captain Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman, said the soldiers used their weapons in self-defense. "This morning's clash came after stone throwing rioters surrounded a tank. The soldiers had to open fire in order to extricate themselves," he told Reuters.
Dallal described Beit Lahia as a "staging point for militant attacks” on nearby Jewish settlements, including the firing of mortar bombs and homemade rockets. "Our operation there was part of ongoing counter-terrorist efforts," he said. The Israeli spokesman added troops arrested nine Palestinians.
Demolitions
Meanwhile, Israeli units destroyed the family homes of four Palestinian activists who were involved in suicide bombings and other anti-Israeli activity, sources close to the families said. Three of the houses were in the Bethlehem area, while the fourth was in a town north of Nablus. In Bethlehem, the army demolished the homes of Daud Abu Sweil and Akram Nabtiti, both of whom belonged to the Islamic Jihad.
The army confirmed the destruction, saying Sweil had carried out a suicide attack in Jerusalem on December 5, 2001 while Nabtiti had blown himself up in east Jerusalem on March 7. Another home destroyed in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, belonged to Ali Mussa Abu Alaan, the alleged West Bank leader of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, a Palestinian security source said.
Another house, that of Hamas activist who, according to Israel, planned Sunday’s bus bombing attack in northern Israel, was razed in Tubas, some 15 kilometers northeast of Nablus, Palestinian security sources said.
Washington
A delegation of Palestinian officials is to commence talks in Washington with senior members of the Bush administration. The Palestinians, headed by Yasser Arafat's chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, were to meet later in the day with Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
The Palestinians have rejected U.S. calls to sideline Arafat, describing them an invitation to anarchy. "We all know that the alternative to Arafat is chaos - Palestinian militants spread in each neighbourhood, maybe having civil strife... and competing to send more suicide bombers to Israel," Erekat told reporters in Washington.
Erekat said that while Palestinians desired reform of government, security services and finances, Washington should have no illusions about his loyalties. "Where do you think I come from? Mars? I'm part of Arafat's leadership." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
