Palestinian killed in Gaza invasion
Israeli soldiers have shot dead a Palestinian in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, hours after another three Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank.
Ibrahim al-Kurd, 46, was killed when occupation troops opened fire after briefly raiding the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood near the border with Egypt early on Thursday, according to a Palestinian security official.
The violence in the occupied Gaza Strip came less than a day after Israeli occupation soldiers killed three Palestinians in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Tulkaram.
One of the two killed in Nablus was resistance activist Ibrahim Attari who died early on Wednesday during an army operation in the western part of the town.
Attari, 30, was a member of the Return Brigades which is linked with Palestinian President Yasir Arafat’s Fatah movement.
Another Palestinian, Abelaso Kassas, was also killed, Palestinian security officials said.
“Their dead bodies were left on the ground in cold weather conditions for three hours,” said Aljazeera’s correspondent in Nablus.
“They were then transferred to the hospital when the Israeli army pulled out of the area,” he added.
The Israeli invasion of Nablus took place only a few hours after they pulled out of it late on Tuesday.
Close range
An army spokesman said a unit arresting a group of wanted
men in Nablus shot and killed a Palestinian threatening them
with a pistol and a second man hiding in a bush who refused to surrender. He was later found to be unarmed. Another man who fired at soldiers was killed in the city of Tulkarm.
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“I do not find any justification for killing them. It is just
Mahmud al-Alul, |
Palestinian officials said the fighters in Nablus were shot
at close range and after one of them had already been grabbed by an attack dog. Medics said his leg was badly bitten.
“I do not find any justification for killing them. It is just
more military pressure in order to make the Palestinians lower
their political demands,” Mahmud al-Alul, the Palestinian
Authority’s governor of Nablus, told Reuters.
Israeli troops say the operations around Nablus have rooted
out resistance fighters bent on attacking the Jewish state, but Palestinians charge that the raids show Israel is not serious about reviving peace negotiations. The army said 19 wanted Palestinians were arrested overnight in the West Bank, 11 of them in Nablus.
Hamas activist killed
Also early on Wednesday, Israeli troops shot dead a member of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Palestinian security sources said Hisham Khrawaish, 20, was killed during clashes in the Tulkaram refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
Gunbattles erupted between occupation forces and resistance fighters after 10 Israeli jeeps invaded the area. The latest killings brought the toll from the nearly 40-month-old Palestinian uprising to 3692, including 2766 Palestinians and 860 Israelis.
Funeral
Hundreds of people followed a funeral cortege for the two
Nablus fighters through the ancient hilly city, battered by
rain and wind. Gunmen fired volleys at the graveside.
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Since the start of al-Aqsa Intifada |
Some vowed revenge for the dead, who belonged to the Return Brigades.
But others also chanted slogans against the Palestinian Authority, particularly criticising Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya, accusing him of not doing enough to help victims of violence or to stand up to the Israelis.
Jenin invasion
Also on Wednesday morning, Israeli forces, backed by more than 20 military vehicles, launched a new invasion of Jenin’s refugee camp, Aljazeera’s correspondent reported.
The forces sealed off the camp and launched search operations into many houses there, witnesses told Aljazeera.
The troops surrounded a house in Jourat al-Dhahab district, claiming that Muntasir Abu Ghaliun, an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades’ leader was hiding there, they added.
The forces also arrested Diyb Hurani, al-Manar satellite channel’s correspondent in the area. The channel, popular among Arab communities, is owned by the Lebanese resistance group Hizb Allah.