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Abducted
Palestinians sit in a yard after Israeli soldiers performed house
to house searches |
OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, April 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies ) - The Israeli
occupation army said Thursday, April 11 it has abducted more than
4,000 Palestinians in its two-week offensive in the West Bank - nearly
double the figure announced two days earlier, news agencies reported.
In
sweeps through Palestinian towns and villages, Israeli occupation
troops have ordered teenage boys and men to assemble in schoolyards
and other outdoor areas for questioning. Others have been abducted in
house-to-house searches.
The
military said that 4,185 Palestinians have been abducted since the
start of the so called "Operation Defensive Shield," which
was launched March 29.
In
an earlier announcement Tuesday, the military said about 2,100
Palestinians were in custody.
It
was the most extensive sweep since the Palestinians' 1987-1993
uprising against Israeli occupation in which thousands of Palestinians
were arrested by Israel.
In
another development, Israeli occupation tanks rumbled into the
Palestinian West Bank town of Bir Zeit, near Ramallah overnight,
Palestinian security sources said Thursday.
The
tanks encircled the area around one of the biggest Palestinian
universities while elite infantry units also penetrated the autonomous
Palestinian town, they said.
Israeli
troops also occupied Palestinian police and security offices in the
town. There was no word on any fighting or casualties.
The
operation was carried out just hours before the scheduled arrival in
Israel later Thursday of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, seeking
to negotiate an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.
Late
Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, during a visit to the
West Bank town of Jenin which is now under Israeli control, reiterated
his intention to continue the military campaign and urged Washington,
its main ally, not to pressurize Israel to end its "war of
survival".
The
Israeli army withdrew overnight from 24 villages it had occupied in
the West Bank, but pressed operations in four major towns, the
military said Thursday.
A
statement said the army was still active in the Palestinian towns of
Jenin and Nablus in the northern West Bank, as well as in Ramallah and
Bethlehem.
In
Jenin, a Palestinian 20-year-old man Amid Abu Hassan was shot dead by
Israeli machine-gun fire, Palestinian security sources said Thursday.
Abu Hassan was gunned down in the town, declared a closed military
zone by the Israeli army.
On
Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council endorsed a statement by major
Middle East peace envoys calling on Israel to withdraw fully from
Palestinian cities and pressing Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to
rein in what they called "terror attacks."
The
statement was read at a formal meeting after Arab nations, facing a
U.S. veto, put off a council vote that would demand an undefined
"third-party" presence in the Middle East, an idea long
opposed by Israel.
In
its Wednesday statement, the 15-member council said it "supports
the joint statement issued in Madrid" by the so-called Quartet of
envoys from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the
United Nations.
"The
Council calls upon the Government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority
and all States in the region to cooperate with the efforts to achieve
the goals set out in the Joint Statement and insists on the immediate
implementation of resolutions 1402 (2002) and 1403 (2002)," the
Council statement said.
The
Quartet's joint statement was released in Madrid following the meeting
of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov,
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Foreign Minister Josep Pique of
Spain, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, and Javier Solana,
High Representative for European Union Common Foreign and Security
Policy.
The
joint statement urged Israel to halt immediately its military
operations and called on Yasser Arafat, as "the recognized"
leader of the Palestinian people, to do everything possible to stop
terror attacks. The Quartet called for an immediate ceasefire and
Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, and
urged the parties to move towards a political solution of their
disputes based on resolutions 242 (1968) and 338 (1973), as well as
the principle of land for peace.
The
wide-ranging statement also reaffirmed support for the objective
expressed by US President George Bush and spelled out in resolution
1397 (2002), of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side
within secure and recognized borders. Among other provisions, it
welcomed the Saudi peace initiative as a significant contribution
towards a comprehensive peace and voiced backing for Secretary
Powell's mission and the efforts of U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni.
On
the situation along the U.N.-determined Blue Line that marks Israel's
withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the Quartet expressed "grave
concern" about the most recent attacks from Lebanon and called on
all parties to respect the Blue Line and show the utmost restraint.
