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The offensive left massive scenes of destruction in Rafah (AFP)
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RAFAH,
Gaza Strip, May 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israeli
military sources dismissed Friday, May 21, reports that its troops
were withdrawing from the devastated southern Gaza town of Rafah,
saying "Operation Rainbow" will continue.
The
sources said the raid will continue and the troops were mereley
"redeploying", Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.
The
troops would be continuing the raids on Rafah in the next few days,
and a smaller deployment of soldiers will remain in the refugee camp
for an undefined period of time, Israeli military sources told the
paper.
"We
still have many missions to carry out there, and that's exactly what
we will do," said the sources.
Press
reports said the occupation troops and tanks were pulling out of three
areas of the southern Gaza refugee camp of Rafah after a three-day
offensive that left dozens of people dead and many
houses demolished, drawing an international outcry.
According
to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Israeli forces abandoned Tel al-Sultan
neighborhood of Rafah, where they used tanks and helicopters to
disperse a protest Wednesday against their "Operation
Rainbow", killing 10 Palestinians, including children.
However,
according to Ha'aretz, a tank and a bulldozer were blocking the
entrance to Tel Sultan, hundreds of residents earlier rushed into the
streets to inspect the damage caused during the Israeli attack, but
Israeli forces opened fire, quoting a local doctor.
In
the Salam and Brazil neighborhoods, a few tanks and armored vehicles
were still in position early Friday, and a curfew remained in effect,
the paper said.
Over
50 people have been killed since the start of the raid, allegedly
aimed at smashing tunnels used to smuggle weapons from Egypt.
The
U.N. Security Council passed a resolution late Wednesday, May 20, condemning
Israel for killing Palestinian civilians and demolishing
their houses in Rafah.
The
14-0 vote came hours after at least 22 Palestinians, most
of them children , were killed when Israeli forces opened fire
on a peaceful demonstration in Rafah, drawing an international outcry.
The
U.N. said the demolitions drove some 1,600 people out of their homes
during the massive offensive, dismissed by Amnesty International as
"war
crimes.
The
Palestinian leadership has accused the Israelis of conducting a
"war of extermination" in Rafah.
The
Rafah fatalities bring the overall toll since the September 2000 start
of the Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation to 4,062,
including 3,084 Palestinians and 918 Israelis.
