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Israeli Military Onslaught Continues; Arafat Meets Cabinet in Ramallah
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel's largest military campaign against the Palestinians continued into a fourth day in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
At least four Palestinians were killed and around 50 others were wounded Saturday when a gun battle flared during an Israeli army sweep for suspected Palestinian resistance activists in the Gaza village of Beit Hanoun.
More than 15 Israeli tanks, accompanied by armored personnel carriers and jeeps entered Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The village is officially under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
The four casualties have been identified as a Palestinian Authority policeman, Ahmed al-Basyouni, and three youths, one a 17-year-old and another a 12-year-old.
Palestinian medical officials said that the three youths were killed by shots to the head. An Israeli army spokesman said she had no information to confirm the Palestinian statement.
Palestinian sources said that Basyouni died due to blood loss, when ongoing gunfire prevented medics from reaching him in time. The sources also said that many of the wounded are Palestinian police officers.
Israeli bulldozers demolished at least 10 buildings in the village, including a police station, a Palestinian security services installation, and offices belonging to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP), leaving hundreds of Palestinians homeless.
One of the demolished houses belonged to a senior Hamas founder Salah Shkhada, who was apparently not home at the time. Shkhada has been on Israel's wanted list since the beginning of the Intifada, or uprising, last September.
Israel claims that members of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, have been active in Beit Hanoun, allegedly using it as a base for carrying out several attacks in the northern Gaza Strip, including a number of assaults on Jewish settlements.
Dozens of mortars have also been fired from Beit Hanoun towards Israeli settlements on both sides of the 1967 Green Line border.
Meanwhile, Arafat Saturday chaired a weekly meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the besieged West Bank city of Ramallah. Attending the meeting were members of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), members of the Ministerial Council and security commanders.
In a statement published after the meeting, the leadership condemned all "terrorist" actions and attacks targeting civilians, whether by Israelis or Palestinians.
The leadership statement said that despite Israeli air strikes and incursions into Palestinian-ruled territories, the Palestinian Authority remained committed to implementing a ceasefire deal with Israel.
"The leadership is still holding the ceasefire agreement, and its declaration of the emergency status to put a firm and a final end to all the attempts of violating the ceasefire deal by the Palestinian side," said the statement.
The leadership said that security forces had been instructed to look for factories and workshops manufacturing metal pieces for producing mortar shells.
"These factories are used by the Israeli government as an excuse to escalate its security and military escalation, imposing siege on our towns and reoccupying parts of it," said the statement.
The leadership also called on U.S. President George W. Bush together with Europe and the Arab countries to immediately intercede to end the new Israeli military aggression.
"Lifting these measures and ending the air strikes and incursions would enable our security forces do their duty and honor commitments," said the statement.
Arafat has been restricted to his Ramallah headquarters since Israel began its latest military campaign against the Palestinians. Armored Israeli forces have taken up positions close to Arafat's offices. The Palestinian leader has been operating from a bunker in the city, much of which has been re-occupied by Israeli forces.
Hardline Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government has banned all contacts with Arafat and has declared him "irrelevant." An Israeli government spokesman said that it would welcome security talks with Palestinian leaders other than Arafat, who it holds directly responsible for a series of attacks by Hamas on Israelis.
The United States and European leaders have reaffirmed their support for Arafat as the Palestinian leader and have demanded that Israel explain its decision to sever communications with the head of the Palestinian Authority.
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