Israeli occupation troops launched another offensive in Rafah in the Gaza Strip early Sunday, as Palestinians prepared a general strike called by Intifada activists to protest against Israel’s seizure of the Orient House.
The Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported that the occupation tanks fired on Palestinian homes near Salaheddine Gate, between the Gaza Strip and the Egyptian border.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
At least ten Palestinian houses were destroyed either completely or partially, said WAFA.
Earlier, Al Barazeel neighborhood in Rafah was also shelled by Israeli tanks, said the agency, adding that hundreds of Palestinians went into the streets, calling for "halting the occupation's atrocities."
Meanwhile, Israeli Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau said on Sunday that the Jewish state would control Orient House "for good."
"Sovereignty and Israeli law will be applied for good to Orient House, which has been occupied to prevent terrorist activities by the Palestinian Authority in the heart of Jerusalem and this type of activity will not resume," the minister said on military radio, cited by AFP.
"If one day we have to leave this building, which is private property, the activities which will be carried on there will be entirely within the framework of Israeli law," he added.
In another development, Palestinians are expected to respond to a call by the leaders of the Intifada for a general strike on Monday to protest against Israel's occupation of Orient House, the unofficial Palestinian headquarters in east Jerusalem, and symbol of their presence in the occupied holy city.
The National and Islamic Forces, a coalition of 14 Palestinian movements steering the Intifada, in a statement faxed to AFP in Jerusalem, called on "Arab and Muslim people to declare a general strike on Monday to defend Al Quds (Jerusalem) and prevent the Judaization of the Holy City."
The umbrella group includes Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fateh movement and the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.
Marwan Barghouthi, Fatah leader in the West Bank, joined the call for a general strike on Monday, urging Arabs and Muslims throughout the world to join the protest action.
He announced the plan in interviews with Arab satellite channels.
Earlier Saturday, Arafat appealed for world pressure on Israel to withdraw from Orient House, which Israeli forces seized on Friday.
The Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said that Arafat had written to the leaders of the United States, Russia, the UN and the European Union, asking for help in obtaining the return of the building.
Arafat's advisor, Nabil Abu Rudaineh, stated that Arafat's letter said that Israel had "crossed all the limits and violated all previously-signed agreements."
Arafat's appeal came as other Palestinian leaders warned the occupation would escalate the conflict throughout the region, calling on Israel to "understand the danger of this crime before it is too late."
Also on Saturday, Israeli police violently repelled about 100 protesters trying to approach the building, which was protected by police barricades.
The police forcefully drove back the protesters, who earlier chanted nationalistic slogans.
"Orient House will remain a (Palestinian) fortress and witness to Israeli terrorism," read a banner carried by the demonstrators.
Orient House has long been the symbolic cornerstone of Palestinian political presence in occupied east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of a future independent state.
Following Saturday's demonstration, Palestinian parliament member and Arab League spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi, accompanied by an entourage of some 10 people, was also forcefully pushed back by Israeli police after trying to approach the building, AFP said.
In another development, Israeli security sources said Saturday that they expect a great deal of tension in occupied east Jerusalem the coming days, with large Palestinian demonstrations near Orient House and in Abu Dis, reported Haaretz newspaper, without elaborating.
"The Israelis are now occupying [Orient House]," said Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Qorei (Abu Ala).
"I think the Israelis made a very big mistake to open the battle over Jerusalem," he said, cited by WAFA.
Since the September 2000 eruption of the latest Palestinian uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation, AFP estimates that Palestinians have killed 146 Israelis with weapons ranging from stones and knives to machineguns and car bombs. Israeli military sources have reported well over 600 injuries to Israelis of Jewish descent.
In the same time period, according to AFP, Israeli soldiers and armed Jewish settlers have killed 13 Arab Israelis and 547 Palestinians with weapons ranging from machineguns and tanks to US-made Apache helicopter gunships and F-16s.
According to an Amnesty International report issued early this year, nearly 100 of the Palestinians killed were children. In addition, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has reported over 14,000 Palestinians wounded.
International human rights groups have consistently reported that Israeli soldiers fire live ammunition at demonstrators who pose no immediate threat, while shelling and launching missiles at residential neighborhoods.
Jewish author Noam Chomsky, who according to a New York Times Book Review article is “arguably the most important intellectual alive,” has been quoted as saying: “State terrorism is an extreme form of terrorism, generally much worse than individual terrorism because it has the resources of a state behind it.” - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
