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Israel pushes into gaza strip killing 3 Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040929_290.htmlhttp://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040929_290.html
Israel Pushes Into Gaza Strip, Killing 3
Israel Pushes Into Gaza Strip, Killing Three in Raid Aimed at Ending Rocket Attacks
The Associated Press
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip Sept. 29, 2004 — A large force of Israeli tanks, armored vehicles and troops pushed into northern Gaza in an overnight raid aimed at militants who have fired rockets against nearby Israeli towns. The incursion, which continued Wednesday, killed at least three Palestinians, Palestinians said.
About 110 Israeli vehicles including tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers swarmed throughout a swath of northern Gaza that militants have used as a staging ground for rocket attacks on Israel in recent days, witnesses said.
In the town of Beit Lahiya, troops sealed off roads as bulldozers destroyed some houses, witnesses said.
Basher Hamouda, 55, who fled with his family, criticized the destruction caused by the repeated Israeli raids, but also questioned the wisdom of the Palestinian rocket attacks.
The militants need "to look around and see what mortar shells and rockets brought to northern Gaza ... nothing but distractions and killing," he said.
The raid came a day after militants fired three rockets into southern Israel, causing no injuries or damage. Most of the Palestinian "Qassam" rockets have landed in open fields, but the homemade weapons can cause heavy damage and killed two Israelis in an attack several months ago.
Israeli military sources said they were taking a new approach that would include immediate, pinpoint raids on areas to launch rockets. Past Israeli incursions have been spread out over wider areas.
Late Wednesday morning, the military launched an airstrike against three militants preparing to launch a rocket from an area east of the Jebaliya refugee camp, the military said. At least one of the militants was hit, the military said.
Troops began erecting a tower outside Jebaliya, but the army said it was only a temporary structure that would be removed at the end of the raid.
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat condemned the operation.
"At a time when the Israeli government is talking about withdrawal and disengagement from Gaza, it is obvious that what is happening is the preparation for reoccupying Gaza," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has launched a plan to pull Israeli troops and settlers out of Gaza next year.
The incursion began late Tuesday, the day Palestinians marked the fourth anniversary of their bloody uprising against Israel. Military sources speaking on condition of anonymity said Israel was trying to stop militants from firing rockets.
Overnight, Palestinian gunmen took up positions to fight the Israelis, Palestinians said. A 22-year-old Hamas militant was killed in a gunfight with Israeli forces near the Jebaliya refugee camp, they said.
Early Wednesday, two other Palestinians, both wearing school uniforms, were shot and killed by Israeli forces near the camp, Palestinians said. They said 10 other Palestinians aged 12 to 21 had been wounded by Israeli forces after they threw stones at Israeli jeeps and armored vehicles.
The Israeli army said it shot at two men trying to lay a bomb near the camp during the raid and presumed them dead.
Another Palestinian, Mohammed Jaber, 14, was killed after Israeli soldiers shot at a group of students throwing stones at them near the settlement of Netzarim in central Gaza, hospital officials said. Three other students were injured, they said.
Separately Wednesday, a wanted Palestinian man was killed in the West Bank city of Nablus when he tried to flee Israel troops who had come to arrest him, the army said. Palestinians identified the man as Majdi Halifa, a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
Looking back Tuesday at four years of Palestinian-Israeli violence, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said both Israel and the Palestinians should reassess their positions.
"We need an evaluation of these four years," he said. "Where have we been right and where have we been wrong? What did we achieve and what didn't we achieve?"
The uprising erupted Sept. 28, 2000, after Sharon, then Israel's opposition leader, visited a sensitive Jerusalem hilltop revered by Jews and Muslims. Palestinian riots broke out, and five months later Sharon defeated Ehud Barak in a special election for prime minister.
The fighting has taken a heavy toll on both sides, killing more than 3,000 Palestinians and nearly 1,000 Israelis.
But Israel appears to have gained the upper hand. It has confined Arafat to his West Bank headquarters for three years and killed hundreds of leading militants. The Palestinian economy is in tatters.
In a sign of Palestinian weariness, a recent opinion poll by An-Najah University found that two-thirds of Palestinians now support a cease-fire with Israel.
Hamas is vying with other groups for a prominent role after the withdrawal. Despite Israeli assassinations of its top leaders, the group still wields great influence in its Gaza stronghold.
On Tuesday, Hamas published newspaper ads urging supporters to vote in upcoming municipal elections, saying "it's time for change." A top Hamas leader also indicated the group may challenge Arafat in presidential elections, which have not yet been scheduled.
Hamas could pose a formidable challenge to Arafat, who consented this month to holding municipal elections in response to widespread discontent over his corruption-plagued government. Hamas, which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israel, is committed to the destruction of the Jewish state.
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