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Palestinian Authority Condemns Jerusalem Martyr Operation
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israeli police and medics search the scene of the bombing |
GAZA
CITY, March 2 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Palestinian Authority has
condemned the Jerusalem martyr operation, which killed nine people plus the
bomber Saturday evening in an ultra-orthodox neighborhood of west Jerusalem,
news agencies reported.
"The Palestinian Authority condemns the attack in Jerusalem tonight, just
as it condemns all attacks targeting civilians, whether Israelis or
Palestinians," said a statement carried by the official WAFA agency.
The Palestinian Authority of Yasser Arafat also condemned Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon's government for its aggression in the West Bank refugee camps,
which killed dozens of Palestinians and injured hundreds," the statement
said.
Sharon is "completely responsible for this escalation," the statement
said, reiterating the "Palestinian Authority's commitment to the peace
process."
The army launched parallel incursions into the northern West Bank refugee camps
of Balata and Jenin, in an unprecedented sweep for Palestinian resistance
activists, which was still underway Saturday night and had killed 20
Palestinians and 2 soldiers, Agence France-Presse [AFP] reported.
Israel claims the attacks aim at rooting out Palestinian resistance activists
from the Jenin and Balata camps.
On Friday morning, Balata camp looked deserted but Palestinians told AFP that
"lots of families couldn't leave on time and are still trapped inside the
camp.
“My father is too old to walk and leave and I'm scared that his home will soon
be destroyed. We communicate by mobile phones as land lines don't work
anymore," one Palestinian woman said.
Palestinian resistance activists had vowed revenge for the raids, and the
Jerusalem blast was subsequently claimed by an armed offshoot of Arafat's Fatah
group, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
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