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Isreal expands sweep gaza refugee camp Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1003/14gaza.html;COXnetJSessionID=1LhsT4Ipg5IZLBrANnKwE5viJSW7VEqTLm7pll9vM2hYAlp3jxX8!-258867719?urac=n&urvf=10661318202810.41028032936198333http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1003/14gaza.html;COXnetJSessionID=1LhsT4Ipg5IZLBrANnKwE5viJSW7VEqTLm7pll9vM2hYAlp3jxX8!-258867719?urac=n&urvf=10661318202810.41028032936198333
[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 10/14/03 ]
Israel expands sweep of Gaza refugee camp
By IBRAHIM BARZAK
Associated Press
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Dozens of Israeli tanks entered the Rafah refugee camp before dawn today, just days after another incursion into the Gaza site left eight dead and hundreds homeless.
Israeli military sources confirmed that an operation was under way. They said it was a continuation of a three-day mission that began Friday, aimed at clearing away tunnels used by Palestinians to smuggle weapons from Egypt.
Witnesses said two columns of armored vehicles entered the camp from two directions, heading for a different section of the camp. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
In the first operation, eight Palestinians, including two children, were killed by Israeli gunfire in fierce exchanges.
More than 1,200 Palestinians were left homeless after the weekend operation, U.N. officials said Monday.
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency said 120 houses were demolished and 117 other buildings were damaged. Municipal officials said water and sewage treatment systems in the camp's Yabena neighborhood also were destroyed.
The agency will give $500 to each displaced family. More than 7,500 Palestinians in Rafah, and nearly 12,000 in all of Gaza, have been left homeless since the Israeli-Palestinian violence began three years ago, the agency said.
Israel estimated that only 30 houses were destroyed during the three-day raid. Some of those houses had smuggling tunnels beneath them, while others were used by Palestinian gunmen or were booby-trapped, said an army spokesman, Capt. Jacob Dallal.
Some of the houses also may have been damaged by Palestinian gunmen using anti-tank guns and rocket-propelled grenades, he said.
Israeli troops discovered three tunnels Palestinians planned to use to bring in more advanced weapons, like anti-aircraft missiles, that could have a strategic impact on the conflict, military officials said. They said about 10 tunnels were still in operation.
Some of the newly homeless disputed the military's account.
Soliman Awaja, a 49-year-old taxi driver, said he was sleeping when soldiers with dogs stormed his house and demanded everyone leave.
"I called on my neighbors to help me save my family and evacuate the house, but the soldiers fired at them," he said.
A bulldozer then demolished the house.
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