- At least eight Palestinians were killed in an Israeli
raid into Gaza City yesterday - among them an 11-year-old boy, according
to Palestinian doctors.
-
- Witnesses identified two of the dead, in addition to
the 11-year-old, as civilians The rest were believed to be militants.
-
- The new violence overshadowed US efforts to restart the
peace process as the US Middle East envoy, John Wolf, met with the Palestinian
Prime Minister, Ahmad Qurei, during his first visit to the region for months.
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- Israeli tanks moved into the Zeitoun neighbourhood, on
the outskirts of Gaza City, before dawn yesterday morning. Heavy fighting
broke out as around 200 Palestinian militants armed with Kalashnikovs,
anti-tank rockets and explosives resisted the incursion, according to witnesses.
-
- An Israeli army spokesman said the aim of the raid was
to root out militants who fire rockets on the nearby Jewish settlement
of Netzarim from Zeitoun. Local Palestinians confirmed that militants do
use the fields nearby to fire on Netzarim, but denied Israeli claims that
such an attack overnight triggered yesterday's incursion.
-
- Ahmad abu Hamdi, a 22-year-old member of the Palestinian
security forces, explained how he had been on duty in the area when the
tanks arrived. He was under orders from commanders not to get involved
in the fighting, but ran to help.
-
- "[The Israelis] didn't let any ambulances through.
After the Israelis withdrew we rushed to where they had been hit. I saw
four bodies. One of them was a boy, maybe 13 or 14 years old."
-
- Dr Muawiya Hassanein of Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital said
an 11-year old boy was among the dead. The other civilians were Musa Dalul,
32, a local stonemason, and Sameh Toteh, a 17-year-old mechanic. The other
five dead were believed to be militants - four from Islamic Jihad, and
one from Hamas.
-
- While the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, denied
settlers' claims his office had identified seven settlements to be evacuated
under his plan for unilateral withdrawal from parts of the occupied territories,
Netzarim, on the edge of Gaza City and hard to defend, has long been considered
likely to be evacuated in any peace deal.
-
- Mr Wolf went to Ramallah to try to persuade Mr Qurei
to hold a meeting with Mr Sharon, in an effort to restart the "roadmap"
peace process. The US has accused both Israel and the Palestinians of failing
to carry out their commitments under the roadmap.
-
- "This continuous aggression against our people should
be stopped," Mr Qurei told Mr Wolf of the Gaza incursion.
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- © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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- http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=485634
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