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Israel Murders 14 Palestinians In West Bank In Two Days
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| Up to 1000
Palestinians have been killed since the Intifada broke out Sept. 2000.
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NABLUS,
West Bank, March 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A Palestinian was killed
Friday morning, the 14th victim of deadly Israeli army incursions in the West
Bank refugee camps of Jenin and Balata, which have prompted international calls
for restraint.
Khaled
Najem, 19, was killed as armor-supported Israeli infantry units staged a new
incursion into the Jenin camp, casting a pall on a Saudi peace initiative for
the Middle East,
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
An
Israeli military spokesman confirmed operations were going on at the refugee
camp in the northern West Bank town of Jenin for the second day running.
Six
tanks had moved into the camp and a helicopter gunship was firing into the camp
from overhead, Palestinian witnesses said, AFP reported.
"Infantry
units, backed up by tanks and helicopters, have taken action again in the Jenin
camp," the army spokesman said.
In
two days, fourteen Palestinians have been killed and more than 150 Palestinians
wounded in Jenin and Balata since the Israeli occupation army stormed in at dawn
Thursday, February 28.
U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the Israeli army to "withdraw
immediately" from the camps.
"I
implore both sides to refrain from further actions which may endanger yet more
civilian lives," a statement carried by AFP said Thursday.
On
Thursday night, the United States urged Israel
to observe "the utmost restraint" and avoid harm to civilians, while
Germany called for an end to the violence "without further delay".
"We
have been in touch with the Israeli government to urge that utmost restraint be
exercised in order to avoid harm to the civilian population,” U.S. State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "These are very heavily
populated areas."
However,
Israeli tanks stormed into Jenin Friday morning. And Israeli Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres justified Friday the operations in the two refugee camps.
Speaking
on public radio, he said they are permitting the army to “intercept”
what he described as “human bombs”.
On
Thursday, Israeli troops shot dead six Palestinian officers and one civilian in
Jenin, as well as five Palestinian civilians in Nablus' Balata camp, where an
Israeli soldier was also killed.
The
army controlled all entrances to the 20,000-inhabitant Balata camp, Palestinian
security sources said.
Friday's
death brought to 1,301 the number of people killed since the start of the
Intifada September 28, 2000, including 996 Palestinians and 282 Israelis.
In
a statement Thursday, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of besieged
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, threatened retaliation for
the latest Israeli incursions and killings by opening "new fronts"
including "outside Palestine" against Israel.
The
Palestinian leadership, meanwhile, vowed that its people would resist all
attempts by Israel to
subjugate them.
"The
Israeli aggression will not make our people surrender," a statement said,
according to AFP.
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| Palestinian Tamam Abu
Abas, 50, wails in her house damaged by Israeli troops in Friday’s
incursion inside the Balata refugee camp. |
The
daily Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, said Friday, March 1, that the defense
ministry gave its go-ahead for invading the heavily-populated Palestinian camps
before dawn Thursday, after winning far-right Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's approval.
The
United States reiterated Thursday night its support for the deadly incursions as
long as they were short-lived, said AFP, but Haaretz pointed out that
"a quick withdrawal will be perceived by the Palestinians as a
victory."
Some
80 people have been killed since Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul- Aziz’s
proposal in the New York Times February 17 of Arab recognition of Israel
in return for a total Israeli
pullout from occupied Arab
land.
As
the death toll mounted, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle
East made a
lightning visit to Saudi Arabia for talks on the overture, which the prince
hopes to present at the Arab
summit next month.
Assistant
Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs William Burns and CIA chief George
Tenet held talks with the Saudi Prince to further explore his proposal, Boucher
said Thursday night.
"We've
said we think it's a significant positive step, not only in content, but also
the fact that it was made,” Boucher said. “We wanted to keep in touch with
them."
The
visit to Saudi Arabia was just the latest indication of U.S. interest in the
Saudi plan, which has been hailed by much of the Arab
world and has drawn positive responses from Europe, though greeted skeptically
by Sharon.
Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak became the first leader to express doubts that the Saudi
plan would work.
"Are
the Israelis ready to withdraw" from the territories which they occupied in
the 1967 Middle East
war, asked Mubarak in an interview published in the Washington Times.
Almost 1000 Palestinians,
mostly children and teenagers, have been killed since the Al-Aqsa Intifada
against Israeli occupation broke out September 28, 2000.
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