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| Israel-Palestine |
| Israel defies outcry and expands Gaza offensive |
| 2004-05-20 |
| Defying international fury and a rare U.S. rebuke, Israel has expanded its bloodiest Gaza Strip raid in years after killing 38 Palestinians in the besieged Rafah refugee camp. The U.N. Security Council, convened at the behest of Arabs incensed at what they branded a "war crime", urged an end to violence after Israeli forces killed up to 10 Palestinians, many of them youths, at a peaceful protest on Wednesday. Apparently 5 of them were armed but Arabs are allowed to carry guns in a peaceful protest it says so in the Koran. Reflecting its displeasure, the United States, Israel’s chief ally, allowed adoption of the U.N. resolution by abstaining rather than using its veto. President George W. Bush urged restraint from the Jewish state. Senior U.S. officials kept up pressure with phone calls to Israeli counterparts, urging Israel to wrap up the three-day-old raid as quickly as possible, an Israeli political source said. Dig the canal guys. Its a permanent solution to the problem. Israeli commentators predicted Israel would soon comply. "Time is running out," read a headline in the Jerusalem Post. But the army, which stormed the Rafah camp after losing 13 soldiers in Gaza ambushes last week, forged ahead on Thursday. Troops pushed into the Rafah districts of Brazil and As-Salam, on the border with Egypt, where the army says it is hunting tunnels used to smuggle weapons for a Palestinian revolt since 2000. An overnight helicopter strike near an olive grove killed at least three militants and wounded two others, witnesses said. Medics said the remains of two other men were found, completely torn apart in what looked like another missile attack. The army said it struck gunmen planting bombs. International outrage rose to a crescendo on Wednesday when Israeli tanks and helicopters fired toward protesters demanding aid. Medics said 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 50 hurt, many of them youths. The army put the death toll at seven. Troops said they did not aim to hit the rally, but tank fire intended to repel protesters might have caused casualties. Rooters edited out the rest of the statement that ’the tank shell may have triggered explosives set by the Paleos’. |
| Posted by:Phil B |