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Arafat
Calls For Rapid Action, More Than 1000 Martyrs
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A
Palestinian youth raises a bleeding hand |
RAMALLAH,
West Bank, March 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat called Friday for rapid international action "before the
region explodes," as the Israeli army continued its deadly attacks on two
West Bank refugee camps, sending the death toll on the Palestinian side well
above one thousand.
"I
call on the international community for rapid action before the region explodes
through these Israeli crimes," Arafat said after a meeting with Danish
Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country takes over the rotating
presidency of the European Union on July 1.
Arafat
accused hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of "having planned to
destroy the camps" of Jenin and Balata in the northern West Bank, where 18
Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have been killed since the launch of
Israeli massacres Thursday morning.
On
the ground, at least six Palestinians were killed Friday as Israeli occupation
troops pressed ahead for the second day with their aggressions.
One
of those killed was an eight-year-old girl, AFP quoted Palestinian security
sources as saying.
Maria
Abu Suriyeh was killed when Israeli helicopters opened fire on the camp, where
Israeli troops backed by tanks were continuing to set the camp ablaze.
Her
death was the sixth among Palestinians killed in Jenin Friday, adding to seven
killed on Thursday when the army launched its operation.
It
brought to 1,307 the number of people killed since the Palestinian intifada
broke out on September 28, 2000. It includes 1,002 Palestinians (mostly women
and children) and 282 Israelis.
The
latest deaths bring to at least 18 the number of Palestinians killed since the
start of the operation. Israel claims the attacks aim at rooting out Palestinian
resistance activists from the Jenin and Balata camps.
In
the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said a seven-year-old Palestinian boy was
killed by Israeli gunfire in the village of Beit Lahiya on Friday.
On
Friday morning, Balata camp look deserted but Palestinians told AFP that
"lots of families couldn't leave on time and are still trapped inside the
camp.
“My
father is too old to walk and leave and I'm scared that his home will soon be
destroyed. We communicate by mobile phones as land lines don't work
anymore," one Palestinian woman said.
She
also said that the electricity had been cut off immediately after Thursday
morning's raid.
"I
wanted to check on my father and to pick up clothes although they might have
been totally burned by the destruction. We left like thieves with nothing,
fearing for our lives," she said.
But
she decided not to go back inside the camp, where the empty streets are made
extremely dangerous by Israeli tanks firing at any moving target.
Her
husband Issa, 51, said that they did not know where they would sleep tonight and
also stressed that his ailing father was still inside the camp.
On
Friday, as some of the previous day's dead were being buried, the Israeli army
had not withdrawn and no one could tell inside the camp when the soldiers would
stop firing and demolishing houses.
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Israeli
soldiers prepare their tank to attack Palestinian civilians |
“There
are no more armed clashes, just kids throwing stones at the tanks but if you get
inside the alleys, you might get shot because they are still firing,” said
Mahmud, 18, a resident of the camp.
Other
families were massing up at the camp's entrance, trying to get in while groups
of men and women were running out carrying babies and light overnight bags.
A
Palestinian security officer on the camp's outskirts was yelling at those
leaving to hurry, pointing to a tall building inside the camp whose upper floor
was occupied by Israeli soldiers.
"There
are a few snipers up here, they won't shoot at people leaving especially if
they're carrying small children but they fire at people trying to get back
in," he said nervously, refusing to identify himself.
Still
a handful of women and teenagers ran over the mount of dirt and sand bags at the
camp's entrance and soon disappeared in its narrow alleys.
"These
women are brave, they want to reunite with their husbands still inside the
camp," the officer said.
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