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Israeli Troops Re-occupy Jenin, Palestinian Killed In Gaza
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Israeli
tanks re-occupied Jenin
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OCCUPIED JERUSALEM,
June 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli forces occupied
the West Bank town of Jenin Saturday morning and imposed a curfew.
The
operation, according to an Israeli military spokesman, was launched
under the pretext that anti-Israeli attacks were being prepared in
Jenin. However, no further details were provided, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
For
their part, Palestinian security sources said a dozen tanks, covered
by two helicopter gunships, entered the town and that an exchange of
gunfire ensued.
They
did not say whether there had been any casualties.
The
last Israeli incursion into the autonomous Palestinian town, was on
June 7. Some 20 tanks moved in following a resistance bombing in
northern
Israel
earlier in the week that killed 17 Israelis and whose author was from
Jenin.
Jenin
and its neighboring refugee camp were heavily damaged during the
fierce Israeli invasion of the
West Bank
in April, reported AFP.
In
Gaza
, a 17-year-old Palestinian was wounded when he was hit by Israeli
snipers in the south east Al Shajaya area, reported Palestinian News
Agency WAFA.
Medical
sources in the Al Shifa Hospital in
Gaza
said that he had received a bullet in his thigh during an open
fire in the area.
In
Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip the Israeli bulldozers destroyed a
number of greenhouses located in the Tala Hamadah area, south of the
Jewish illegal settlement Dugit, under the protection of Israeli
tanks.
On
Friday night, the Israeli tanks reoccupied the northern
West Bank
town of
Tulkarem
and its adjoining refugee camp, witnesses told AFP.
About
15 tanks pushed their way in, with machine guns blazing, Israeli
troops imposed a curfew on the town and the camp, they said. This was
confirmed by a spokeswoman for the Israeli army who claimed that there
were warnings of “possible terrorist attacks from this area”.
In
addition, Israeli army jeeps and military trucks entered the
West Bank
town of
Bir Zeit
early Friday and left three hours later after abducting two members of
the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, Palestinian security sources
said.
The
director of Ramallah's post office, Yasser Ghanem, was also abducted
the sources said.
Part
of Bir Zeit, which lies close to Ramallah, is under full Palestinian
control. The rest of the town is under Israeli military administration
and Palestinian civil jurisdiction.
The
town hosts one the largest Palestinian universities on the
West Bank
and has undergone several Israeli incursions since the beginning of
the intifada in September 2000, barring thousands of students from
pursuing their education, said AFP.
On
Friday, Nabil Shaath, Arafat’s minister for international
cooperation told U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that the
Palestinians want to conclude a final peace settlement with Israel in
two years.
Shaath
said the Palestinians believed that the two-year timeline for an
agreement should be part of a new
U.S.
vision for
Middle East
peace to be announced in the coming days by President George W. Bush.
"We
feel that without a timeline there can be really no real
progress," Shaath told reporters outside the State Department
after his meeting with Powell.
"Without
a timeline, procrastination can come in, things in the world might
create all sorts of reversal in the way of progress and therefore we
feel that a timeline is very important," he said.
"We
feel that a timeline of a year for negotiations and a year for
implementation is a very reasonable timeline," Shaath said,
adding that Powell had listened closely to the idea but had not
indicated whether it would be part of Bush's plan.
"It's
important that we had our word listened to and I hope that it will
have a real impact," he said, noting that he had carried with him
a message from Arafat and the Palestinian leadership.
"I
made clear our wish that the statement that would come would be seen
by our people as well as by the Israelis as fair ... and has the
backing of the
United States
for its implementation within a short time period."
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