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| Middle East |
| One soldier, 4 Palestinians killed in Gaza battle |
| 2003-06-27 |
| JPost - Reg Req'd - EFL Sgt. Erez Ashkenazi, 21, of Kibbutz Reshafim, was killed in a battle with Hamas men early Friday morning in the village of Mujarkha south of Gaza City. Four Palestinians were killed in the battle. Contrary to previous reports, local leader Adnan al-Ghoul, whose house the soldiers destroyed, was not involved. Also known as "The Engineer," he was the target of the raid. In the two-hour battle, soldiers fired more than a dozen tank shells as combat helicopters fired machine guns toward groups of dozens of gunmen, while the Palestinians threw grenades, one of which killed Ashkenazi. Al-Ghoul, 42, is the chief bombmaker of Hamas, and has overseen the construction of homemade Qassam rockets the group has been firing at nearby Jewish settlements and Israeli border communities. He has been wanted for more than a decade by both by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Israel has repeatedly tried to kill him in recent years. Israel Radio reported that Palestinian forces were informed of the raid. The military turned over the bodies of the three dead Palestinians, according to Palestinian doctors. Here - you take 'em, they're starting to stink The raid began around 4:30am, and the echoes of gunfire could be heard in nearby Gaza City. Hamas issued a statement blaming the United States for this and other recent strikes, but refrained for the first time from making customary threats of more attacks against Israel. On Thursday, troops intercepted four Palestinians carrying two backpacks stuffed with explosives, killing two in a clash and capturing the others. Maj.-Gen. Amos Gilad, coordinator of government activities in the territories met on Friday afternoon with and Palestinian Minister of State Security Muhammad Dahlan to discuss the final details of transferring security control in Gaza and Bethlehem over to Palestinian control. And the Palestinians confirmed that Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad reached an agreement to halt attacks on Israelis for three months. BFD - rearming and reorganization time |
| Posted by:Frank G |