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Israeli
Tanks Destroy 73 Palestinian Homes In “Disaster Zone”
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| An elderly
Palestinian now homeless, thanks to the Israeli army
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RAFAH,
Gaza Strip, Jan. 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – A dozen Israeli tanks
and bulldozers razed 73 houses in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah early
Thursday, the town governor said, news agencies reported Thursday, January 10,
2002.
The tanks and bulldozers carried out the destruction amid heavy firing,
witnesses said. The Israeli army claimed its forces came under fire from
grenades and automatic weapons, but there were no reports of casualties.
The Israelis ended their operation and withdrew at dawn, leaving clusters of
newly-homeless Palestinians shivering in the cold mud around makeshift
campfires, close to the craters of what had until then been their homes.
Rafah's
governor Sufian al-Agha said that 73 houses had been flattened and 123 families
left homeless, adding that some women and children had been treated for shock
and cold after the operation.
He called the district a "disaster zone."
"We are hoping international organizations will do something. I am
surprised there has been no international stand against the Israeli practices
here," he said.
He said Israel had also destroyed some Palestinian fishing boats and motors on
the Gaza coast.
The governor said there had been no firing in the area since Palestinian
President, Yasser Arafat, called for an end to Israeli attacks on December 16.
"I was surprised the Israelis bulldozed these houses. There was no shooting
for three weeks," he told AFP.
The tanks and bulldozers began destroying homes under cover of heavy machine-gun
fire in Block O, a neighborhood under Palestinian self-rule in the town on the
Egyptian border, witnesses and security sources said.
Block O sits close to the border zone, which falls under tight Israeli military
control and is a frequent flashpoint.
In
Moscow, meanwhile, Russia called on Israelis and Palestinians alike to keep
their cool Thursday as the Middle East conflict escalated.
"Russia
as co-sponsor (of the Middle East peace process) calls again on Israel and the
Palestinian Authority to stay restrained and calm and not to allow such
incidents to start another round of violent confrontation," the Russian
Foreign Ministry said in a statement received by AFP Thursday.
The two incidents (killing of four Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian
activists in a firefight Wednesday and the latest Israeli aggression Thursday
morning) were particularly alarming as they followed a slight thaw in relations
between the Israelis and Palestinians, the ministry noted.
Israeli tanks had already moved into Palestinian land Wednesday evening near
Gaza international airport close to Rafah and bulldozed a Palestinian security
post, less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Kerem Shalom.
Israeli forces had seized three Palestinian navy police stations earlier in the
Mawasy area of the southern Gaza Strip under Israeli security control. The
Palestinian police officers were disarmed and evicted.
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