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Israeli
Raided West Bank Refugee Camps Amid U.S. Caution
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| The smoke rises over Balata refugee camp during an Israeli attack in the West bank city of Nablus |
WEST
BANK, Feb. 28(IslamOnline & News Agencies)- The Israeli army rocketed two
refugee camps in West Bank Thursday killing ten people-nine Palestinians and an
Israeli soldier- and injuring more than 80 Palestinian- the first time this has
happened since the began of the intifada 18 months ago amid U.S. caution.
The
United States has urged Israel to exercise restraint after heavy raid on Jenin
and Balat refugee camps in the West Bank.
"it
was extremly important that every possible effort be made to avoid harm to
civilians," BBC quoted U.S. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher as
saying.
This
new Israeli aggression came after a martyr operation on Wednesday night by a
Palestinian woman, who was identified by Israeli media as a resident of the
Balata camp. The woman emerged from her vehicle with explosives strapped to her
body and blew herself up during a routine stop at a West Bank checkpoint.
Helicopters
and tanks were involved in the attacks, but much of the Israeli assault was
being done on foot in the areas, criss-crossed by narrow alleys.
Israeli
soldiers began house-to-house searches, reportedly breaking through walls of
adjoining properties to avoid exposure to Palestinian activists who are said to
be well-armed.
An
Israeli soldier and two Palestinians were also killed in fighting in the Balata
camp near Nablus, Israeli military and Palestinian hospital sources told Agence
France Presse (AFP).
A
Palestinian man was also reported to have been killed by Israeli fire in Nablus
itself.
Fighting
was still underway in Balata and Jenin camps, which are both considered as
activist strongholds, and host 20,000 and 18,000 refugees respectively. .Seven
Palestinian policemen were killed, and eight people were wounded, including
several civilians, in an Israeli attack north of the Palestinian-controlled town
of Jenin
As
soldiers searched homes at Balata, preventing people from passing, the army said
it would allow unarmed civilians to leave the camp if they wanted, BBC reported.
Israeli
troops have also occupied a school on the edge of Balata run by the UNRWA- but
the army has firmly denied reporrts that its soldiers are trapped there,
surrounded by Palestinian activists.
Palestinian
activists meanwhile said they had retaliated by firing mortar bombs at the
Jewish settlement of Gilo in occupied East Jerusalem.
Spokesman
of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Fateh faction aligned with
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said it fired four mortar bombs at Gilo
Thursday February 28, in retaliation for the incursions, AFP reported.
The
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades threatened to open "new fronts", including
"outside Palestine", in the wake of the Israeli incursions.
"The
command of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has instructed all volunteers for
martyrdom to be ready to riposte to all incursions into our camps and open new
fronts without precedent inside Palestine and outside," the statement said
according to AFP.
In
separate clashes in the nearby district of Al-Khader, two Palestinians were
injured when clashes with Israeli soldiers broke out. One of them according to
AFP was a 15-year-old boy who was described by Palestinian hospital sources in
Beit Jala as being in critical condition after being shot in the head.
Marwan
Barghouti, the head of the Fatah movement, described the Israeli offensive as a
"massacre".
"We
warn Israel that if it does not withdraw its forces in the next few hours, the
Palestinian side will retaliate against Israelis everywhere in the occupied
territories," BBC quoted Barghouti as saying.
"I
call on all national forces to unite against this Israeli escalation and come
forward to defend their brothers in Balata and Jenin," he added.
The
Palestinian leadership vowed its people would resist all attempts by Israel to
subjugate them.
"The
Israeli aggression will not make our people surrender," the leadership said
in a statement Thursday carried by the official WAFA news agency.
"Faced
with Israeli occupation tanks and helicopters, our people have the full right to
defend themselves, their land and existence," AFP reported the statement as
reading.
A
similar warning has been issued by the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade - the resistance
group linked to Fatah which on Wednesday February 27 said it was behind a female
martyr operation that wounded two Palestinians accompanying the bomber and at
least three Israeli policemen.
Israeli
escalation came as Israeli and Palestinian officials met for security talks to
try to ease the situation.
It
also coincided with an international effort to end the violence, led by the
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana and based on a peace plan
proposed by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah.
The
proposal entitled that Israel should withdraw to pre-1967 borders and sign a
peace deal with the Palestinians. In return, Arab states offer Israel full
diplomatic relations, including security guarantees and trade relations.
Price
Abdullah will present the proposal in the next Arab Summit due to take place in
Lebanon in March.
Thursday's
deaths brought to 1,297 the number killed since the Palestinian intifada broke
out exactly 18 months ago, including 992 Palestinians and 282 Israelis.
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