Two Palestinians were killed Thursday, during Day 5 of Israel's so-called Determined Path operation in six of the largest West Bank cities, reported Palestinian sources.
Israeli forces, including tanks and helicopters, fired at the besieged Palestinian government compound in Hebron for a third day, stopping periodically to allow those holed up inside the opportunity to surrender.
Israeli military officials said 150 people had abandoned the compound and surrendered, 40 of them wanted activists. An Israeli army statement added that more than 100 explosives were found near the complex.
Those still believed to be in the compound refused to come out Wednesday, even after the Israeli army sent two Apache helicopters to fire at the building, eyewitnesses said.
The Israeli soldiers also used megaphones to call on the Palestinians to surrender. The parents of four of the Palestinians inside the building were sent there and were asked to persuade them to give themselves up.
According to the Israeli army spokesman, the Hebron raid is expected to continue for several weeks.
Also on Thursday, Israeli soldiers shot dead a 17-year-old Palestinian when he fired a pistol at an Israeli tank in the Balata refugee camp located near Nablus, according to witnesses and the Israeli army.
And in Nablus itself, some 20 Palestinian policemen surrendered at a prison compound after Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers surrounded it. The police officers were ordered to remove their clothes — then were handcuffed, Palestinian witnesses said, according to AP.
In Qalqiliya, a 9-year-old boy was critically wounded and two other youths were hurt when Israeli tanks fired at the town center, Palestinians said. The critically injured boy, suffering from brain damage, was transferred to an Israeli hospital, they said.
Palestinian officials maintain the Israeli occupation of the West Bank cities is making it impossible to implement the reforms which U.S. President Bush has demanded of them.
"There must be a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, so that we can have our fair and democratic elections without any obstacles, checkpoints or tanks," said Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
In Gaza Strip, six Palestinians were shot and wounded near Rafah refugee camp in the south of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security and medical sources said.
The sources said there had been fierce shooting early Thursday between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in the area, which is close to the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Subsequently the Israelis bulldozed about 10 Palestinian buildings in the locality, the sources said.
Earlier, two buildings in the Palestinian autonomous town of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip were damaged by shots fired by Israeli tanks, Palestinian security sources said.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein decided Wednesday not to allow the overseas exile of families of suicide bombers, a motion brought up in a cabinet meeting last week. Discussions on the legal repurcussions of exiling the families to the Gaza Strip will be held in the coming days.
During a special meeting, Israeli legal experts agreed that exiling the families overseas could land Israel a prosecution at the International Tribunal, in the Hague.
The exiling of families overseas contravenes article 49 of the Geneva Convention, which bans the wartime transfer of citizens from occupied land to a different country.
The Israeli Justice Ministry is still looking into whether or not exiling the family members to Gaza Strip would stand up to an appeal to the Supreme Court or the International Tribunal. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
