Twelve Palestinians killed, 110 wounded in Israeli raid of Gaza town. - Not a mention rated on RTE

by wormholebrothers Mon Oct 07, 2002 13:38

Israeli soldiers kill 10 Palestinians

Staff and agencies
Monday October 7, 2002

Violence again flared today in the Gaza Strip as Israeli soldiers made their deadliest raid for three months and the head of the Palestinian riot police was shot dead in mysterious circumstances.
Masked men opened fire on Colonel Rageh Abu Lehiya's car in Gaza City, killing the police chief. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Ten Palestinians were killed earlier today and 115 wounded in an incursion into Khan Younis.

Backed by Apache helicopters, the troops and tanks entered the Palestinian town - a Hamas stronghold - and its adjacent refugee camp in the early hours of the morning.

Gunfire and explosions were heard as the Israeli soldiers battled Palestinian militants and attempted to destroy metal workshops Israel claims are used for making weapons.

Palestinian doctors and witnesses said all the dead, including two cousins ages 14 and 15, were civilians. An Israeli army commander said many of those killed were gunmen, but acknowledged there may have been civilian casualties.

In one incident, a helicopter fired a missile into a crowd, killing eight people.

A Khan Younis resident, Abedi Ashour, 24, said he was emerging from his apartment after Israeli ground forces left the area when he heard a loud explosion. "I saw the ugliest picture of my life. People were bleeding, many of them lying on the ground. Women were screaming and blood covered the ground," he said.

Brigadier General Israel Ziff, the Israeli army commander in the area, said that during the operation, troops met heavy resistance from Palestinian gunmen. He said that as troops were beginning to withdraw, many armed men gathered in the streets.

"They fired a lot and threw grenades. There was a battle there," Brig Gen Ziff said. "The helicopter aimed at this armed group and hit them."

Palestinian witnesses said large numbers of people emerged from their homes to inspect the damage when they saw the Israeli troops withdrawing. At this point, the Israeli helicopter fired into the crowd, killing eight people.

Later, Israeli troops fired assault rifles and machine guns into Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where hundreds of people had gathered to learn about the fate of relatives. Four more people were wounded by army fire at the hospital, including a 14-year-old boy hit in the neck and a paramedic wounded in the chest.

The military said troops opened fire after Palestinians fired mortar shells from within or near the hospital.

The director of Nasser Hospital, Haidar al Kidreh, said that among the wounded were 20 in critical condition.

Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat denounced the Israeli raid as a massacre and called on the international community to protect the Palestinians. Mr Erekat said he believed the raid was timed to disrupt the visit of Javier Solana, the foreign policy head of the European Union, to the region.

"Every time we witness efforts to revive the peace process and put it back on track, like those being exerted now by Solana, the Israeli government moves to conduct such war crimes and murder innocent civilians because the end game of the Israeli government is to resume full occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank," he said.

Mr Solana spent yesterday with the Israeli defence minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and the foreign minister, Shimon Peres.

He is in the region to push a peace plan drawn up by the UN