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Israeli troops northern gaza strip Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030515-103833-1555rhttp://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030515-103833-1555r
Israeli troops raid northern Gaza Strip
By Joshua Brilliant
United Press International
From the International Desk
Published 5/15/2003 12:39 PM
TEL AVIV, Israel, May 15 (UPI) -- Hundreds of Israeli soldiers backed by tanks, heavy engineering equipment and helicopters penetrated the northern Gaza Strip Thursday to round up suspect militants, destroy houses and clear orange groves.
The head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Doron Almog, said he expected the operation to last "a few days."
The infantry battalions and the tanks began rolling shortly before 2 a.m. A pool reporter with the Foreign Press Association said the convoy of more than two dozen vehicles, included tanks, armored personnel carriers, D-9 bulldozers and Humvees. They traveled to Beit Hanoun with lights off most of the time.
Shooting erupted at about 3 a.m. when the force surrounded several houses that were to be demolished. The houses belonged to Hamas activists who were arrested last month and who, according to the army spokeswoman, confessed to having fired Qassam rockets into Israel.
Two other houses belonged to Hamas activists whom the army spokeswoman said were "connected" to the rocket attacks.
The suspected militants, however, were still at large.
A bulldozer flattened a one-story home and soldiers blew up the other.
Palestinian sources told Israel Radio that five people were killed, including three boys. The Haaretz newspaper said the killed Palestinians included two militants.
There were no Israeli casualties, a military spokesman said.
The army then cleared orange groves in the area.
"Five D-9 bulldozers were cutting down the trees as if they were giant lawnmowers trimming an overgrown yard. The armored vehicles kept watch, and there were one or two bursts of gunfire, but it was not clear who was shooting at whom," the pool reporter said. An Israeli officer said the grove was wrecked so "we will now have a clear line of sight from our position, and the terrorists can't hide."
In Tel Aviv, Almog said he expected the ground clearing works to cover "a few acres." The army's plan calls for flattening areas as far as 10 kilometers from the boundary line, beyond the rocket's range.
Under agreements with the Palestinians, Israel withdrew from 80 percent of the Gaza Strip but surrounded the strip with barbed wire and electronic fences that prevented infiltrations. Militants opted for firing rockets over the fence.
Almog said that since April 29 the Palestinians fired 12 Qassam rockets and 50 mortar shells at Israeli towns and settlements.
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