- JABALYA, Gaza (Reuters) --
Twenty-three Palestinians and three Israelis were killed Thursday, Gaza's
bloodiest day for more than two years, as Israel's army struck back after
a rocket attack killed two Israeli children in a border town.
-
- In the single deadliest incident in a spiral of violence,
an Israeli tank shell killed seven Palestinians near a school in Jabalya,
Gaza's largest refugee camp, as Israeli forces thrust deep into the militant
stronghold for the first time.
-
- Palestinian witnesses said the dead from the tank shell
blast were all teenagers with no involvement in the heavy fighting that
raged through the camp. "The explosion was so big it scattered body
parts in nearby houses," a medic said.
-
- While voicing regret for civilian casualties, a senior
Israeli commander said a tank fired at armed men after they detonated a
bomb that wounded several soldiers, and launched an anti-tank rocket at
Israeli forces operating nearby.
-
- Earlier Thursday, gunmen shot dead two Israeli soldiers
and a woman jogger, and Israeli troops raiding northern Gaza killed 16
people, including militants and bystanders.
-
- The army's push into Jabalya came after Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon ordered troops to use all means necessary to put
a stop to rocket fire that has persisted despite repeated Israeli raids
and air strikes.
-
- A Hamas rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of
Sderot Wednesday killed two Israeli children, aged 2 and 4, visiting their
grandparents on the eve of the Jewish festival of Sukkot.
-
- The latest cycle of bloodshed has sent Sharon scrambling
to counter rightist critics who say his plan to withdraw troops and settlers
from occupied Gaza next year has emboldened militants trying to give the
impression that Israel is being driven out.
-
- Israel's army appears determined to smash militant groups
before leaving.
-
- "The formula is clear -- blood for blood, bombardment
for bombardment," a Hamas gunman said in Jabalya, where witnesses
said armored bulldozers had plowed through houses to clear a path into
the crowded camp of 100,000 inhabitants.
-
- The army said its forces had to make their way under
heavy fire through streets booby-trapped with bombs.
-
- It was Israel's deepest thrust into Jabalya's narrow
alleys in four years of conflict, a move the army had previously avoided
for fear that troops and armor would be too vulnerable.
-
- SHARON'S SECURITY CABINET TO MEET
-
- Sharon planned to meet his security cabinet later on
Thursday to consider broadening the offensive, political sources said.
Radio reports suggested reserves might be called up.
-
- Condemning the two-day-old Israeli incursion, Nabil Abu
Rdainah, an aide to President Yasser Arafat, told Reuters: "This is
a dangerous indicator which will lead to failure."
-
- David Baker, an official in Sharon's office, said: "The
Israeli army activity is geared to enabling Israelis to live normal lives
in their communities in that area and is designed to prevent the daily
barrage of mortars and Qassam rockets."
-
- Under cover of fog, two gunmen from Hamas, a faction
behind a campaign of suicide bombings and sworn to Israel's destruction,
attacked an army position near Jabalya before dawn. A soldier was killed
before troops shot dead the militants.
-
- Hours later, Hamas gunmen killed an Israeli woman taking
a morning jog near Jewish settlements and then shot dead an army medic
who rushed to her aid. Soldiers killed two attackers.
-
- Palestinian medical sources said a 60-year-old Palestinian
was later killed by Israeli fire in the area, and a 27-year-old farmer
was shot dead working in a nearby field.
-
- Violence surged Wednesday when Palestinian militants
mounted the deadly rocket attack on Sderot, and troops killed nine Palestinians
in raids in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
-
- Two makeshift Qassam rockets hit the town, close to Israel's
fenced border with Gaza, killing a girl aged 2 and a boy aged 4. "I
saw one little child without his legs. We tried to help the other one but
it was too late," said neighbor Haviv Ben Abbo.
-
- - Additional reporting by Megan Goldin
-
- Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
-
- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=
578&e=10&u=/nm/20040930/ts_nm/mideast_dc
|
