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Israeli Army Occupies Hebron, Kills
8
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| Israeli
armored personnel carriers move into Al Khalil (Hebron)
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By
Awad El Rajoub, IOL Palestine correspondent
AL
KHALIL (HEBRON), West Bank, April 29 (IslamOnline) - Eight Palestinians were killed and around 20 others wounded as the Israeli
army occupied the Palestinian controlled area of the West Bank town of
Al Khalil (Hebron) early Monday, April 29.
Witnesses
confirmed that dozens of tanks entered the town from different sides,
especially from the north and the south, covered by Apache helicopters
and heavy shelling of civilian homes.
Israeli
forces also occupied the central offices of the Palestinian security
forces, and destroyed several cars belonging to Palestinian security.
The
Israeli occupation army imposed a curfew as soon as it had controlled
the entire town, forbidding people from leaving their homes.
Palestinian
resistance forces fought back the Israeli onslaught, during which eight
Palestinians were killed.
One
of those killed was a leader in Al Aqsa Martyr Brigades, an offshoot
of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement.
Others
include policemen, and civilians.
In
a measure internationally condemned by human rights groups, and which
clearly violates international law, the Israeli army prevented
ambulances from reaching the wounded.
Mustafa
Al Natsha, the mayor of Al Khalil, told BBC radio Monday morning that
the Israeli army was carrying out a complete occupation of the
neighborhoods of the town.
He
also confirmed that the number of casualties had reached eight dead
and dozens of wounded, who are currently without medical aid due to
the prevention of ambulances from reaching them
Palestinian
sources reported that the occupation took place with the help of
dozens of tanks and military vehicles, amid heavy shelling and machine
gun fire.
The
southern West Bank town was the only one in the West Bank besides
Jericho to have escaped Israeli occupation since the start of a
massive Israeli military operation codenamed “Operation Defensive
Shield” on March 29, the officials said.
Under
an accord with the Palestinian Authority, Israel evacuated 80 percent
of Hebron in 1997 but it still controls an enclave where there are
some 400 Jewish settlers under army protection in the middle of
120,000 Palestinians.
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