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A Palestinian woman sits in front of her demolished house, bulldozed by Israeli forces
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GAZA
CITY, September 17 (News Agencies) - Dozens of Israeli tanks, backed
by helicopters, stormed the
southern Gaza Strip town of Khanun, destroying two houses, Palestinian
security sources said Tuesday, September 17, while the Israeli army
said it had kidnapped 23 Palestinians in Khan Yunis.
The
tanks pushed several kilometers (miles) into Khanun, just north of
Khan Yunis, and began demolishing the two houses, belonging to
Palestinians recently shot dead by the Israeli occupation army, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The
army claimed the murdered Palestinians were allegedly carrying out
anti-Israeli attacks.
In
a later statement, the Israeli army said that in an overnight
incursion near Khan Yunis it had kidnapped 23 Palestinians allegedly
"suspected of hostile activities against Israel."
An
army unit backed by tanks also destroyed nine factories north of the
town, the army added, again claiming they were makeshift bomb
factories.
A
military source also said a bomb exploded in the path of an Israeli
army jeep at Abu Dis in the West Bank near occupied Jerusalem, without
causing any casualties.
Meanwhile,
Israel Monday marked Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish
calendar, and Jews were called on to observe a 24-hour fast, as
the country cut itself off from the world, closing ports, airports and
border-crossing points, including the river bridges to Jordan and the
Rafah crossing point from the Gaza Strip to Egypt.
Radio
and television stations were also silent, with no news programs
broadcast, and no newspapers on the stands. City streets were almost
deserted, with bicycles the only vehicles in view.
West
Bank cities reoccupied by the Israeli army since June –
Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Al-Khalil (Hebron), Tulkarm and
Qalqiliya – were under a tight curfew scheduled to last until 2:00
a.m. Tuesday (Monday 2300 GMT).
In
Gaza, meanwhile, an Egyptian man was shot dead Monday and a
Palestinian woman was wounded there late Sunday.
Palestinian
security sources named the Egyptian as Abdul Fatah Said Abdu, 27, a
volunteer for the two-year-old Palestinian uprising who had been
living in the Gaza Strip on false papers.
Israeli
forces opened fire at Abdu between Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis.
The
unarmed Palestinian woman was wounded during an overnight incursion
into Rafah hard by the Egyptian border.
