Israeli forces destroy nine houses in Rafah, break into Salfeit
Palestine-Israel, Military, 7/2/2002

Amid intensive fire, the Israeli tanks and bulldozers stormed into al-Brazil quarters in Rafah and destroyed nine houses. Two Palestinian were wounded by the Israeli soldiers and one armored vehicle was blown up in Rafah and resulted in wounding one Israeli soldier.

In Ramullah, the Israeli forces broke into Salfeit town and several other villages and forced the Palestinians to get out of their houses and gathered them in schools courtyards, while other Israeli armored vehicles were deployed into villages of Arraba, Fahma, Kafer Rai to the south of Jenin and a large scale inspection campaign was held.

The Israeli forces arrested scores of Palestinians from Abu Deis, and al-Ezareyah near Jerusalem and from Nablus, Toulkarem and Hebron including the Palestinian Asaad Halbouni, member of the Hamas movement, in Nablus, while thousands of Palestinian workers demonstrated in Gaza in protest of unemployment rate increase because of the Israeli siege.

On the other hand, Israeli political sources welcomed statements made by the US Secretary of State Colin Powell and US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice Rice which said that the US administration will not deal with the current Palestinian authority.

Meantime the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stressed that his army will continue the campaign against the Palestinians and he refused to permit his foreign minister Shimon Peres to make contacts with Palestinian figures whether being inside or outside the occupied Palestinian territories. Sharon said:" the Israeli army will stay in the Palestinian territories for a long time " in order to restore back calm.

For his part, the Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Bin Aliazer said that Israel will dismantle all randomly built settlements points within two or three weeks, noting that his ministry intends to dismantle 34 settlement during this period in the West Bank.

At the Palestinian level, the secretary of the Palestinian Authority Ahmad Abdul Rahman said that talks about change by the Palestinian administration in order to change the current Palestinian authority are in line of the Israeli interests and serve only Israel. He said that intervension of the American administration in the Palestinian internal affairs is considered a flagrant intervention. A " matter which we do not accept."

Previous Stories:
  Israel starts building a fence around Jerusalem, to cancel liaison offices in the West Bank and Gaza   (7/1/2002)
  Amnesty International calls Israeli measures in occupied territories collective punishment   (6/29/2002)
  One Palestinian killed, 9 wounded, 10 Palestinian houses demolished   (6/29/2002)
  Fierce clashes continued between Israeli forces, the Palestinians   (6/28/2002)
  Fierce fighting in Hebron, Ramullah   (6/27/2002)
  Hawatmah and targeting the civilians   (6/19/2002)

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