Israeli army presses on

2003-10-11 13:29

Jerusalem - The Israeli army pressed on with its deadly campaign in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday for the second straight day, as the Palestinian leadership sought to end a paralysing political struggle over power sharing.

At the United Nations, Israel was under fire after Secretary General Kofi Annan accused its army of a disproportionate use of force in Gaza and the Security Council prepared to debate a controversial barrier through the West Bank.

Israeli officers said the Gaza operation had met with stiff resistance and that, early on Saturday, Palestinian militants retaliated with mortar fire against Jewish settlements in the Gush Katif bloc.

Four Palestinians were wounded overnight and early Saturday in an operation that had already left seven Palestinians killed, two of them children, and dozens wounded, many seriously.

One source in the area said "gunfire and explosions could be heard all night, and the army has destroyed dozens of houses."

A number of mortar rounds were fired at Jewish settlements, and one of them struck near a synagogue crowded with worshippers for the Sukkot holiday, military sources said without reporting any casualties.

Israeli security forces were on a high state of alert for the holiday, with police saying there were reports of dozens of anti-Israeli attacks being prepared.

Some 1 500 police officers, backed up by 500 volunteers, were deployed around popular leisure centres, at beaches and along the Green Line separating Israel from the West Bank, a police source said.

Referring to the massive raid, which began Thursday night, a military source said: "this operation is continuing and will continue for as long as necessary."

Up to 100 armoured vehicles supported by attack helicopters had thrust deep into Rafah's densely populated refugee camp, on the border with Egypt.

"Operation Root Canal" was aimed at thwarting weapons smuggling by Palestinian militants through secret border tunnels, the army said.

"So far our forces have uncovered and destroyed two arms-smuggling tunnels leading across the border from Egypt straight into Palestinian homes," an army source said, adding that a third one had just been discovered.

One Israeli soldier had been wounded in the operation so far, the source added.

A statement late Friday from Annan's office said he "deplores the killing of Palestinian civilians during the Israeli incursion into Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

"Not for the first time, the secretary general reminds Israel that the disproportionate use of force in densely populated areas is not compatible with international humanitarian law."

Separately, the UN Security Council decided Friday to hold an open session on Israel's construction of a security barrier cutting off a chunk of the Palestinian West Bank.

"The council has decided that the public session requested by the Arab group will take place on Tuesday," said one diplomat who took part in the closed-door meeting.

Syria requested Friday's closed-door session, a day after submitting a draft resolution on the construction of the barrier on behalf of Arab member nations.

Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian representative at the United Nations, said "if Israel is allowed to build, it will be the end of the peace process. It is just as serious as that."

The barrier had "nothing to do with security... It is an expansionist wall annexing de facto huge chunks of Palestinian territories," he said.

Israel has expressed strong opposition to the resolution.

The draft was well received by the 15-member council without amendments, according to diplomatic sources. The only opposition came from the United States, which sources said would veto the measure.

While Israel is facing diplomatic pressure, the Palestinians themselves are struggling to put together a credible government.

Leaders of the main Palestinian faction Fatah were meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah early on Saturday afternoon in a bid to resolve a row between Arafat and Qorei, both of whom were there in person.

The dispute focuses on the powers of the nine-member cabinet headed by Qorei and particularly those of his interior minister-designate, General Nasr Yussef.

Palestinian officials say Qorei has tendered his resignation over the dispute although Arafat put out a statement saying he still had full confidence in his premier.

- AFP