Two Palestinians were killed Wednesday afternoon and at least 10 were injured after Israeli soldiers opened fire on a group of Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip refugee camp of Rafah, witnesses and hospital sources said.
Palestinian sources said one of the dead was 16 and the other was between the ages of 11 and 12.
Clashes continued after the shooting. Witnesses said Palestinian youths threw stones and home-made stun grenades at four Israeli occupation tanks and a bulldozer which approached the edge of their camp.
Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, in the town of Khan Younis, seven children aged six to 10 were wounded by Israeli tank and gunfire near a housing development and at a schoolyard, Palestinian medics and witnesses said. None of the injuries was serious, they said.
Additionally, Israeli troops arrested Tuesday night 12 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank. According to Israel Radio, in Hebron the troops nabbed six wanted Hamas activists. Also, in Tubas, near Nablus, the troops arrested two wanted Hamas operatives.
In the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, soldiers apprehended a Tanzim activist. Further, in Kalfin, near Tulkarem, soldiers detained one Palestinian, the radio said. Two others were apprehended near Ramallah.
Houses demolished
Israeli soldiers demolished two homes of Palestinian activists early Wednesday in a village near the West Bank city of Nablus, witnesses and the Israeli army said.
Israeli troops moved into the village in the early morning hours, imposing a curfew, local residents said. The families of the Naher Bisher and Bilal Abbas, members of Hamas who were arrested almost two years ago, were ordered out of their homes, they said.
The residents of the homes were unable to take out most of their possessions before soldiers placed explosives in the structures and detonated them, the witnesses said. Several houses in the area of the homes were damaged, some of them seriously when the blasts blew out parts of walls.
The Israeli army confirmed the destruction of the homes, saying that Abbas and Bisher carried out a shooting attack on an Israeli car traveling near Salfit in August, in which two Israelis were killed and two injured.
"The demolition of houses of terrorists is an important part of the steps being taken in the fight against terror carried out by Palestinians," the army said in a statement.
Outposts
Also on Wednesday, Israeli soldiers dismantled three unpopulated settlement outposts and Defense Ministry officials said more illegal enclaves, including inhabited ones, would be targeted soon.
The campaign to dismantle settlement outposts is being led by Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, leader of the Labor Party, a senior partner in Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition.
Settler leaders on Tuesday accused Ben-Eliezer of targeting the enclaves for internal political reasons. Ben-Eliezer faces a tough battle for re-election as party chief in November.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said the removal of the outposts was an Israeli smokescreen aimed at clouding "violations of international law and assaults against the Palestinian people".
U.S.
In Washington, US President George W. Bush said he was "deeply concerned" about reports of Israeli raids in Gaza Strip that have left civilians dead or wounded, his spokesman Ari Fleischer said in a statement Tuesday.
"While the administration supports Israel's right to self-defense, it is critical that Israeli forces make every effort to avoid harm to civilians in exercising that right," Fleischer said. "The president urges Israel to minimize the risk to civilian populations in areas in which Israeli Defense Forces are operating."
An Israeli raid Monday in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis left 16 Palestinians dead, most of them civilians, and more than 100 wounded.
"We are in touch with the Israelis to tell them that they have to examine their actions with great care, to avoid this kind of loss of life which does not further our efforts to find a peaceful solution," US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday, referring to the deadly Khan Yunis raid. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
