Sharon vows to stop rockets

2004-10-03 10:53

Gaza City, Gaza Strip - Israel's premier warned that his army's largest operation in Gaza in four years would expand, after troops left dozens of dead and rows of houses destroyed, aiming at stopping Palestinian rocket attacks on border towns.

Early on Sunday, two Islamic Jihad militants were killed in an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza, Palestinian security and hospital officials said.

Also on Sunday, Israeli tanks and bulldozers opened a new front, moving from a Jewish settlement in southern Gaza into the Khan Younis refugee camp, residents said, as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to halt mortar fire at the settlements as well.

Until that move, the operation focused on the northern part of the crowded coastal territory, home to 1.3 million Palestinians. Beginning on Thursday, the Israelis cleared out a 9km buffer zone to move Israel out of range of the wobbly, homemade Qassam rockets.

Sharon said late on Saturday that the army's mission was to stop the rocket fire "completely". He told Israel Radio: "This operation will continue as long as necessary."

He also said the military would thwart daily attacks on Gaza settlements, due to be removed next year.

Gaza invaded

"We must also operate to stop the shelling of Israeli communities in Gaza now and during the evacuation," he said, insisting that the pullout would take place on schedule, late next year.

Since Thursday, when 2 000 Israeli troops invaded Gaza with tanks to respond to a Wednesday rocket attack on the nearby town of Sderot that killed two Israeli tots, 50 Palestinians have been killed along with five Israelis.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia urged militants groups "to think about the higher national interest and not give Israel excuses to continue the aggression against our people in Gaza", hinting at a halt to rocket fire.

But Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat referred to Israel's campaign as a "monstrous, criminal, inhumane attack on our people".

Israel's government sent large forces into the Jebaliya refugee camp for the first time since the early 90s, when Israel and the Palestinians started signing interim peace accords since turned into ashes by four years of bloody conflict.

Trail of destruction

Late on Saturday, Israeli forces pulled back, leaving behind a wide trail of destruction. To craft a new road into the camp, the Israelis levelled rows of small houses and flattened a farm. UN officials said dozens were left homeless.

The Israelis dug in at the edge of the camp, an armoured bulldozer parked next to two tanks camouflaged with piles of sand.

Nearby, Israeli forces destroyed two shops and encircled a house, witnesses said.

Jebaliya, the largest Palestinian refugee camp, is home to 106 000 people in 1.4 square kilometres - one of the most crowded places in the world.

The fighting once again plunged the encircled, poverty-stricken Gaza Strip into scenes of anguish.

Mothers wept over their children's corpses, tank fire ripped through groups of militants and bystanders, stone-throwing youngsters faced off against well-armed Israeli troops and tires burned in the streets to confuse Israeli spy drones.

Israel labelled its invasion "Days of Penitence", and it appeared to be only beginning.

- AP