Posted on 02/19/2003 6:41:30 AM PST by Israel Insider
Large contingents of Givati troops, backed up by at least forty Israeli tanks and helicopters, staged a raid into the Shajaiyeh neighborhood in Gaza City and destroyed four metal workshops used for the manufacture of illegal weapons. Eleven Palestinians were killed and at least twenty people were injured in the operation; there were no Israeli casualties.
A Palestinian bakery worker, 32, was reportedly shot and killed and another man wounded as Israeli troops conducted searches and exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen in Nablus Wednesday morning. Eight wanted Palestinians were arrested and soldiers found an assault rifle and a pistol, Israel Radio reported.
In the village of Jamain, south of Nablus, security forces destroyed the home of Hafez Naif Hussein. The army said Hussein is responsible for killing two Israelis from the community of Tapuach who had come to do business in the village seven months ago.
Israeli troops launched their incursion into Gaza City late Tuesday night. It was the fourth straight day of military operations targeting Hamas terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, following the organization's bombing of an Israeli tank near Dugit on Saturday morning, in which four Israeli soldiers were killed.
An official IDF statement said soldiers blew up four workshops and destroyed 32 lathes used for manufacturing weapons and exchanged fire with gunmen, and there were no Israeli casualties. The military statement said the operation was aimed at the "terrorist infrastructure in Gaza."
Army Radio reported that the soldiers met fierce resistance and that at least eight explosive devices were thrown and Palestinians fired anti-tank missiles.
Three grenades were thrown at soldiers by Palestinians hiding in a mosque, the army said. The soldiers refrained from returning fire to avoid causing damage to the building.
Palestinian sources said the army destroyed three houses and two metal workshops, damaged a school and ripped out electricity cables. Three of the dead were men driving in a car machine-gunned by Israeli troops, Palestinians said. Witnesses also reported that three civilians were killed when their house collapsed as a result of the army's demolition of a metal workshop nearby.
According to Hamas, a suicide bomber identified as Karim Batron, 21, blew himself up alongside an Israeli tank, setting it on fire.
The Givati Brigade commander who led the incursion, Col. Imad Faras, told Army Radio that there was no such suicide bombing and no Israeli tanks were damaged. "During the operation, ten Palestinians were killed, all of them armed. When we detonate buildings, we take care to ensure that there are no civilians inside and we also evacuate civilians from the nearby buildings," he said.
At the end of the operation, the Israeli force withdrew from the Gaza Strip.
Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Rantissi warned Israeli leaders that Gaza would be "the graveyard for their soldiers." He said Hamas would "continue our holy war to liberate this land," referring to Israel as well as Gaza and the West Bank.
A Palestinian terrorist who was posing as a bakery worker, 32, was reportedly shot and killed...There, I fixed it for you.
Any questions Israel?
A very stupid move. Demolish the place. The hell with what the Arab street thinks, or the European street, for that matter (which is mostly the same thing)
We and the Israelis are the only people who won't attack the enemy because we are afraid that it will make them mad
Nothing more to add...
Yeah, but they all look like Hanan Ashwari.
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