Posted on 06/24/2002 7:16:31 AM PDT by TheOtherOne
Israel Preparing Major Ops In Gaza Strip Against Hamas-PM
10:06 ET
Dow Jones International News
(Copyright (c) 2002, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)-- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told members of his Likud Party Monday Israel was preparing a large operation in the Gaza Strip against the militant Hamas movement, his spokesman Raanan Gissin said.
Sharon spoke hours after Israel delivered the first blow of the new offensive - a helicopter missile strike on two cars carrying Hamas members, killing six Palestinians and injuring five in the southern Gaza Strip at Rafah.
Four of the dead belonged to Hamas, the movement said. Israel said it targeted and killed Yasser Rizik, a "senior Hamas activist" who was allegedly behind a January attack that killed four soldiers.
Also in Gaza, Palestinian police surrounded the Gaza City home of Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, and Palestinian authorities said he was under house arrest. However, Yassin invited journalists inside and said he was unaware of any such order.
After brief scuffles between Hamas supporters and police, masked Hamas gunmen patrolled the sandy streets outside the house, while police pulled back several hundred meters.
The latest turbulence came as both Israelis and Palestinians awaited an address by U.S. President George W. Bush, who was expected to propose a fresh start for peacemaking and offer guidelines for a future Palestinian state.
There was no word on when Bush would deliver the speech. It was put off last week due to the escalating violence, which included three major Palestinian attacks that left more than 30 Israeli civilians dead, and prompted the Israeli invasion of the West Bank.
The latest Israeli incursion came in response to a recent wave of Palestinian attacks.
"There's no doubt that with the current situation, it's hard to see how we can fight terror effectively without being in the Palestinian areas," Cabinet Secretary Gideon Saar told Israel Radio.
At least 600,000 Palestinians in the West Bank are confined to their homes by the curfews, although restrictions were temporarily lifted in two places, Nablus and Qalqiliya, so residents could shop and go to school.
Hamas has renewed its threats against Israel and warned Arafat to lift the house arrest order against Yassin, the group's leader.
"We emphasize our right to continue the jihad (holy war) and resistance, and to intensify the martyrdom operations as a reaction to the policy of the occupation and the (Palestinian) authority," Hamas said in a statement.
In Jenin, Israeli troops carried out house-to-house searches, arresting the head of Palestinian military intelligence, Mohammed Abu Hanana, and his bodyguard, Palestinian security officials said. Troops also found two explosives laboratories and blew them up in Jenin.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires 24-06-02
1406GMT
CNN exclusive: "Ted Turner was right, Israel is a terrorist state, they have just invaded the helpless innocent refugees, mostly woman and infants, in the peacful Gaza enclave..."
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