Gaza: 'Chaos is spreading'
2004-10-14 09:11
Gaza City - Israel's largest and bloodiest offensive in Gaza in four years of conflict moved into its third week with missile strikes that killed three Palestinian militants, and troops dug into the northern end of the crowded territory.
Chaos and violence have been on the upswing in Gaza since Israel announced its intention to pull out of the poverty-stricken seaside territory next summer. On Wednesday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said his security forces were unable to impose law and order.
Palestinian militants are trying to show that they are forcing the Israelis to retreat, firing homemade Qassam rockets at Israeli towns just outside Gaza.
A rocket attack that killed two Israeli toddlers on September 29 set off the Israeli invasion. Troops are in control of most of northern Gaza, pushing Israeli towns out of Qassam range.
Air strikes
Late on Wednesday, Israeli aircraft targeted a group of militants near Beit Lahiya, a town in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, witnesses said, killing one Hamas member and wounding another.
Early on Thursday, another Hamas militant was killed in a missile strike in the Jebaliya refugee camp, and a second died later in a hospital.
The Israeli military said in both cases, soldiers spotted militants planting explosives and targeted them in air strikes.
Around the same time, about 20 tanks moved into the Rafah refugee camp on the Egyptian border and destroyed four abandoned structures, Palestinians said. Two people were wounded by an Israeli missile.
The military said it was a "routine" operation to remove cover for Palestinian gunmen. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed during the offensive, about half of the civilians.
Spreading chaos
In an Associated Press interview, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Palestinian security forces are unable to stop the spreading chaos in the West Bank and Gaza.
Qureia said an attempt, apparently by Palestinian dissidents, to kill Gaza security chief Moussa Arafat with a car bomb Tuesday was "very dangerous." Arafat, an unpopular relative of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was unharmed.
Qureia said the car bombing fit into a pattern of chaos that has included kidnappings of Palestinians and foreigners and other assassination attempts.
"Unfortunately, the security services couldn't stop it," he said. "All these acts are bad phenomena and reflect negatively on the internal Palestinian situation."
- AP