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| Middle East |
| 8 Palestinians Killed in Gaza Battles |
| 2003-02-23 |
| Israeli troops raiding Beit Hanoun town blew up five homes of suspected militants Sunday, battled masked gunmen and shot from tank-mounted machine guns toward dozens of stone throwers. Six Palestinians were killed and 28 wounded. Elsewhere in Gaza, an Israeli soldier and two more Palestinians were killed, including a 16-year-old boy. In Beit Hanoun, people in one of the homes targeted for demolition threw hand grenades and fired shots at Israeli soldiers — marking the first time a demolition was met by serious resistance. The seven adults in the house surrendered after several hours and troops blew up the building. "We're runnin' low on ammunition, Mahmoud!" "Maw! Rustle up some more hand grenades, wouldja?" The Israeli military repeatedly has targeted Beit Hanoun, a northern Gaza town close to Israel because militants have fired short-range rockets from there at Israeli border towns and villages. In response to Sunday's raid, Palestinians fired three homemade Qassam rockets toward Israel. Israel's rescue service said one landed near a bank in the Israeli border town of Sderot. That made a lot of sense, didn't it? Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday that Israel would keep up the pressure on Islamic militants in Gaza. It's just that it's a lot messier than the operation on the West Bank last year... Sunday's raid of Beit Hanoun began at about 1:45 a.m. Two dozen tanks and two bulldozers, backed by three attack helicopters, entered the town from two directions. Troops searched homes and the municipal building using dogs, witnesses said. Throughout the day, small groups of gunmen, some wearing black ski masks and camouflage gear, fired at tanks, drawing return fire. Tanks also fired in the direction of stone-throwers, including children and teens, who dropped to the pavement at the sound of gunfire. Usually a pretty bright move... In all, six Palestinians were killed in Beit Hanoun, including a policeman, two stone throwers, ages 20 and 17, and a 27-year-old cow farmer, Palestinian security officials said. All, of course, were just standing around, minding their own business... Two border guards also were found dead near their post, hospital doctors said. Both had knife marks, in addition to bullet wounds, and one had no eyeballs, the doctors said, suggesting the corpses had been mutilated. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said that "these repeated lies and accusations of mistreatment and misconduct have been part and parcel of this war from the minute it was launched." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |