Israeli troops killed at least seven Palestinians yesterday in the fiercest fighting in northern Gaza since the army invaded 10 days ago.
Palestinian witnesses in the town of Beit Hanoun said five of the dead were gunmen, including Nahed Abu Odah, local commander of the armed wing of the Islamic militant group Hamas, and two were non-combatants.
Colonel Avi Levy, commander of Israeli forces in the area, said his men reported eight or nine Palestinians were killed and that one soldier was wounded.
PHOTO: AP
Israeli troops backed by tanks and helicopters also swept into part of Khan Younis refugee camp and bulldozed several buildings, an army spokesman said.
He said the buildings were uninhabited, while Palestinian witnesses reported troops with loudspeakers ordered families out of houses targeted for demolition.
Violence has surged in Gaza in the run-up to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal of settlers and soldiers from the area by the end of next year, as Palestinian militants and the army vie for supremacy.
Faced with the possibility of a power vacuum in Gaza after an Israeli pullout, international mediators have stepped up pressure on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to institute security reforms to help keep militants in check.
Envoys from the US, Russia, the UN and the European Union told Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie on Wednesday the world had run out of patience with Arafat's "empty promises" of change, said a senior diplomat.
In separate comments yesterday, UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen called in an Israel Radio interview for "necessary security reforms on the Palestinian side so that all ... terrorism and violence comes to a complete halt."
The latest fighting in Gaza's densely populated Beit Hanoun area erupted on the 10th day of an open-ended Israeli incursion that began after a child and an adult were killed by a rocket fired at the Israeli border town of Sderot.
"Twelve rockets have been launched since the operation started, but their effectiveness and the frequency of the attacks are down because we are in the field," Levy said in Jerusalem.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, vowed that resistance would not stop as long as Israeli aggression continued.
A gunman in Beit Hanoun said his squad was trying to leave town via a back road when they were surprised by Israeli special forces on the ground and soldiers firing from rooftops.
"Three (of my comrades) were killed. I crawled away. A man came out of his house to help but he was hit by a sniper. A woman and her daughter were watching from their doorstep and were also hit by gunfire," he said.
Hospital officials said the man and the woman were killed. Asked about civilian casualties, Levy said no non-combatants were shot intentionally.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS