Israel escalates attacks against the Palestinians, one woman settler killed
With the continued meeting held by the US secretary of State Colin Powel in the Palestinian territories with officials concerned, confrontations continued in the occupied Palestinian territories as attacks on Thursday were escalated by the Israeli army against the Palestinians who retaliated.
Israeli military sources reported that one Israeli woman settler was killed after she was wounded by Palestinian bullets on Thursday to the north of the West Bank, while she was near the Palestinian city of Jenin to the north of the West Bank, together with another woman in a car near Ghanem settlement where the second woman was slightly wounded.
An Israeli military source said also that the Palestinians fired mortars on Thursday at a settlement to the south of Gaza but resulted in no casualties.
On the other hand, the Israeli radio said on Thursday that the Israeli security departments arrested in the West Bank some 11 Palestinians suspected to be involved in carrying out dangerous acts but gave no more details.
Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians demonstrated on Thursday, at the invitation of the Palestinian national forces in Gaza on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of annexing the occupied city of Jerusalem to Israel and they announced the continuity of the Palestinian Intifada and their rejection of the American pressures on the Palestinian Authority to foil the escalated struggle against the Israeli occupation.
The demonstration which was attended by representatives of 13 Palestinian groups including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad and Fatah started from Palestine "Square' in the downtown of Gaza and took the main streets in the city. The demonstrators chanted slogans calling for the continuity of the Intifada until liberation is attained and to continue resisting the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians.
One Palestinian was wounded when the Israeli occupation forces opened fire at him deliberately at the entrance of the industrial zone near Erez barrier in Gaza.
Violent confrontation also took place on Thursday between the Israeli forces and the Palestinian Intifada youths who threw stones at the Israeli forces in retaliation of the Israeli forces use of live bullets and tear- gas.
One Palestinian worker was wounded on Thursday morning in the industrial zone also near Erez barrier. Palestinian medical sources said that the worker Fares Abdul Fattah Lafi ( 22 year old) was hit by an exploding bullet fired by the Israeli soldiers while he was heading for his work in the industrial area in Beit Hanoun without confrontation at that place and that he is in a critical health condition. Meantime, the US secretary of state Colin Powell urged the leaders of the Israeli and Palestinian sides not to miss the chance of ending what he called of 9 months of acts of violence.
Powell who was talking to Journalists following talks he had held with the Israeli President Moshe Katsav expressed his hope to strengthening what he called halting the confrontations and helping the Palestinian and Israeli sides to move towards the second phase of implementing the Mitchell committee plan, noting that this plan is the only way out of these conditions at the meantime.