“It would be a terrible mistake to try and impose a solution on us by force," said Qorei (AFP)

GAZA CITY, December 11 (IslamOnline.net & news Agencies) – Five Palestinians – including a medic -  were killed by Israeli occupation forces in a fresh incursion into the southern Gaza city of Gaza Thursday, December 10, with the Palestinian Authority charging the operation was aimed at "scuttling all efforts to restore calm to the region."

Backed by helicopters, Israeli troops thrust into the densely-populated town, killing four Palestinians and wounding 18 others, including five children, Palestinian medical and security sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The martyrs were identified as Nasser Abu Naja and Saber Abu Luli, both aged 20, Omar Abu Mohsen, 28 and Ayyad Mohammad al-Mahmum, 55.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian medic treating wounded Palestinians was shot dead by Israeli soldiers, Palestinian medical sources confirmed.

Mohammad Zeino, 22, was helping a wounded Palestinian to reach an ambulance during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian resistance fighters in the town's refugee camp when he was hit by an Israeli bullet, the sources said.

He was transferred to Gaza City's Shifa hospital but died upon arrival of serious head injuries, they added.

Fierce battles erupted between occupation troops and Palestinian fighters after about 20 Israeli armored vehicles, including tanks, rolled into the camp at daybreak, spreading panic among the refugees, witnesses said.

Witnesses said the Israeli forces used three local residents as human shields in order to retrieve an injured soldier.

Three Palestinians were forced to walk in front of an Israeli tank to the spot where the soldier was lying in a pool of blood, they confirmed.

The BBC correspondent said on air from Palestinian territories that the incursion is the largest by Israeli occupation forces in more than two months.

She said at least two houses were demolished during the Israeli incursion, which was still underway in mid-morning.

The latest Palestinian fatalities brought to 3,641 the number of people killed since the start of the Intifada in late September 2000, including 2,721 Palestinians and 854 Israelis, according to an AFP count.

Israeli troops have staged several incursions into Rafah's refugee camps in recent days under claims of searching for tunnels used by resistance fighters to smuggle weapons.

But observers said Palestinian civilians are the hardest hit in these thrusts, citing the last raid that had left scores of houses demolished and more than 115 Palestinians displaced.

In the meantime, Israeli forces detained a number of Palestinian resistance members from Fatah and the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine.

Condemned

Some 18 people were also wounded during the incursion (AFP)

The Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli aggression as an attempt to torpedo ongoing truce efforts.

"We condemn this dangerous escalation which is aimed at scuttling all efforts to restore calm to the region," Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.

"We call on the international community to pressure Israel to put an end to its aggression and on the (United Nations) Security Council to impose sanctions against Israel," he said.

For his part, Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat said "this policy of aggression fans the flames of violence and undermines all efforts underway to salvage the peace process".

‘Terrible Mistake’

In a related development, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei warned Israel against taken unilateral actions and said resistance attacks against Israel would resume if the construction of the separation wall was not halted.

"It would be a terrible mistake to try and impose a solution on us by force," he told the Israeli daily Maariv, cautioning that "the fire will burn, the terror will grow."

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has frequently warned that he might take unilateral steps against the Palestinians.

However, Qorei said he believed that political dialogue was possible.

"We need to renew the trust," he said.

He slammed the Israeli insistence to build the barrier, which snakes into large swathes of Palestinian land and leave many people homeless.

"It won't help, it won't work, it will cause a tragedy. You cannot build a fence on our land, put us inside cages like chickens, and hope for the best," Qorei said.

"If you want a fence, please. Build it on the Green Line. In this case, we are willing to share construction costs. But to come and confiscate our land, build a fence on Palestinian territory, coop us inside crowded cages and then leave? We will never agree to that."