|
||||||||
  |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 die in Israeli operation, Palestinians say
KHAN YUNIS, Gaza (CNN) -- An operation by Israeli helicopters and dozens of tanks early Monday killed 14 people, including a woman and child, and about 150 people wounded, the Palestine Red Crescent Society and hospital sources said. The raid ended after several hours and was immediately condemned by Palestinian leaders. The Israeli military said its forces were firing on a group of gunmen who shot at them first. The Red Crescent said the Israelis opened fire in a pair of residential areas in Khan Yunis, a refugee camp in southern Gaza. The intense attack included missiles, shelling, weapons fire from Apache helicopter gunships and demolition of structures by military bulldozers, Palestinian sources said. "We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms," said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat. "Every time there is movement toward resumption of negotiations we get these attacks by the Israelis." According to Palestinian sources, most of the casualties occurred when at least one missile was fired into a crowd outside a mosque in an area of Gaza the Israelis consider to be a stronghold of the militant Islamic group Hamas. The Israeli military commander in the region said armed men were among the dead. Gunmen gathering in the streets fired at his withdrawing Israeli force, he said. That was when the helicopter fired the missile, he said. Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist organization, has been labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. The group's military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and attacks against the Israeli military. "There is no justification for such action," Erakat said. "There is no such thing as a Hamas neighborhood." U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan was deeply critical of the Israeli attack, his spokesman said. Annan was particularly concerned by reports that a missile from an Israeli helicopter gunship was fired into a crowd of civilians "in reckless disregard of the obligation under international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population. Such actions have no legal or moral justification," spokesman Fred Eckhard said. And the Bush administration Monday said it was "deeply troubled" by the strike and called on the Israeli military to investigate the incident. "We think it's very important that Israeli forces do their utmost to act in a manner that avoids harm to civilians and to humanitarian facilities, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday. "We expect immediate steps to be taken to prevent the recurrence of tragic incidents such as these." Palestinian sources said the hospital where many of the casualties were taken came under fire by Israeli troops. According to the Israel Defense Forces, its troops returned fire after Palestinians shot three mortars from the hospital. In his statement, Boucher also said the United States is concerned about reports of Palestinian civilians being killed by Israeli forces, in some cases for reported curfew violations. "We've always respected Israel's right to defend itself, including going after armed groups and armed men in some of these areas," Boucher said. "But we've always said they need to do that in a manner which has the utmost care to avoid harm to civilians, particularly when they're conducting operations in heavily populated areas. And we've said that often results in tragedies and numerous deaths. And that appears to be what's happened again." In other developments, Rajeh Abu Lihya, commander of the Palestinian Authority's law and order unit in Gaza, was gunned down by masked men in Gaza City, Palestinian sources said. The Palestinian Authority blamed Izzedine al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and a short time later a gunbattle erupted between Palestinian police and member of the group. Two Hamas activists were killed and at least 15 were wounded, hospital sources said. Additionally, CNN reporters saw cars loaded with Palestinian police headed out of Gaza City in pursuit of Hamas gunmen believed to have been involved in the shooting of Abu Lihya. Israel Radio quoted Hamas leader Abed al Aziz Rantisi as urging the Fatah movement's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other militant groups to join Hamas in a wave of terror attacks against Israelis in retaliation for the Israeli raid at Khan Yunis. Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has carried out numerous attacks against military targets and civilians in Israel and in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. In March 2002, the U.S. State Department designated it as a foreign terrorist organization. The PFLP is a Palestinian militant group that has committed numerous international terrorist attacks and has conducted attacks against Israeli or moderate Arab targets, according to the U.S. State Department. -- CNN Correspondent Alessio Vinci in Gaza and State Department Producer Elise Labott contributed to this report.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
