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Palestinian Mother Killed by Israeli Forces in West Bank
TULKAREM, Nov.14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A Palestinian woman was killed Wednesday in the West Bank city of Tulkarem by Israeli army forces who recently re-occupied the Palestinian-ruled town, according to Palestinian medical sources.
The Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) reported that Wafa Ouda Nassief, a 29-year-old mother of five, was struck by a heavy-caliber bullet while standing on her balcony.
In addition, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Wednesday that seven Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces fired on the Khan Yunis refugee camp. Hospital officials said one of the Palestinians was in a serious condition.
Palestinian security sources and witnesses also said that a school had been seriously damaged when 18 Israeli tanks shelled it overnight. Several houses were also damaged, they said.
Israeli public radio reported that Israeli forces also shot and then arrested Wednesday an unidentified Palestinian man who had been the target of a major manhunt near Tel Aviv. Hundreds of Israeli police officers, with helicopter support, were involved in the operation.
Recently, Israeli forces have stepped up raids on Palestinian-ruled towns and villages in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
On Monday, Israeli forces invaded the village of Tell, just south of the West Bank town of Nablus. A member of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, was killed and 45 men were arrested in the Israeli raid.
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - called on Monday for Israel to withdraw its troops and tanks from Palestinian areas.
However, Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for hardline Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the soldiers would not leave West Bank areas around Jenin and Tulkarem until Palestinian security forces agreed to "restrain militants and prevent violence."
As the new killings took place, a top Palestinian official in Jerusalem urged Israel Tuesday to "come to terms" with an unbending Palestinian demand for the removal of hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers from Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967, news agencies reported.
In 1967, Israel attacked Egypt - later joined by Syria and Jordan - in the Six Day War. In defiance of several U.N. resolutions, Israel's military forces have since illegally occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and Golan Heights.
"For their part, Palestinians must understand that Israel will not accept the return of some four million Palestinian refugees and their descendants to land conquered through war," said Sari Nusseibeh, a confidant of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. "The Palestinian demand is for a state of Palestine in the entirety of the territories occupied in 1967. No settlements, no Israeli control."
There was no Israeli reaction to Nusseibeh's comments, which came amid U.S. efforts to revive an Israeli-Palestinian settlement halted by nearly 14 months of political unrest and violence.
Sharon, a major supporter of the Jewish settlement efforts, reaffirmed his opposition to the removal of any settlements on occupied Arab lands.
More than 200,000 Israelis now reside on Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Golan Heights, an activity considered illegal by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions and international law.
Meanwhile, a study conducted by the Palestinian "Central Social Works Bureau" in Jerusalem revealed that the number of needy families has increased drastically and was identified as a result of Israel's military occupation against the Palestinians, who suffer from an economic siege, blockade, killings, assassinations and general economic suffocation.
Sha'alan Bahar, the manager of the Center, said that the number of families seeking assistance and financial aid has dramatically increased. He launched an open plea calling for financial help in order to help the needy families.
According to the latest tally by news agencies, at least 758 Palestinians and 189 Israelis have been killed in the last 14 months since the beginning of the latest Palestinian uprising against Israel's military occupation.
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