lennart
01-12-03, 14:29
IDF kills 3 gunmen, 9-year-old boy in Ramallah raid
By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz correspondents, and agencies
IDF forces mounting a major raid in Yasser Arafat's headquarters town of Ramallah Monday killed three armed Palestinian militants and a 9-year-old boy, later demolishing a four-story building believed to be hiding a Hamas man on Israel's most-wanted lists.
Two of the men were killed in the Amri refugee camp near the city. An explosive belt and several weapons were found near their bodies. Another armed Palestinian was killed in the Ramallah neighborhood of Umm Shrayat.
Palestinian sources said the boy was killed by IDF fire in El Bireh, a town
adjacent to Ramallah.
Also Monday, an IDF officer was lightly hurt by Palestinian fire near the Gaza Strip settlement of Ganei Tal, Army Radio reported.
The broad Ramallah operation was carried out by Shin Bet agents and large numbers of IDF troops, including units of most of the military's special forces.
The operation, months in the planning, was directed against what is considered to be militants who have acted "deep underground," in
particular secrecy.
In the afternoon, soldiers surrounded a four-story building in the city, telling residents to take out their belongings and leave the premises.
The building was then demolished by explosives, and troops searched for the fugitive they believed had been hining there.
Palestinian witnesses said dozens of people were arrested in the operation, including a Hamas leader, Ghassan Abassi. IDF officials confirmed "a number" of arrests, and said they had uncovered an explosives laboratory, which the army had destroyed.
Referring to the timing of the raid, mounted hours before Israeli and Palestinian delegrates were to gather in Switzerland for the formal launch of the Geneva Accord alternative peace plan, State-owned Israel Radio noted that the operation had been planned long in advance, and
that it was more likely tied to the possibility of a cease-fire in the near future.
It said the Israeli forces would be acting in the area of Arafat's Muqata headquarters, but would not be in close proximity to the compound, to which Israel has kept the PA chairman confined for years.
The attack is expected to conclude by the evening. The IDF said it had no intention of confronting PA forces or doing harm to the Muqata.
The Hamas organizational structure in Ramallah is headed by Sheikh Ibrahim Hamad, who has been wanted by Israel for several years. Hamad was responsible for the twin September suicide bombings of Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem and the Tsrifin army base outside Tel Aviv. Sixteen people were killed in the attacks.
Troops arrived in dozens of jeeps and the sounds of explosions and gunfire were heard in Ramallah's Masyon neighborhood, one of dozens
where the arrests were being carried out, witnesses said.
An Israeli military source said soldiers launched "a wide operation for arrests" in Ramallah early on Monday and were searching house-to-house for militants suspected of involvement in planning or carrying out attacks against Israelis.
The IDF made no official statement about the arrests and the source could not say how many suspects were being held.
Palestinian security officials said dozens of men under 40 were taken out of their homes in several neighborhoods of Ramallah and the neighboring al-Amri refugee camp. They could not say how many of these men were arrested.
In the Masyon neighborhood, witnesses saw soldiers shooting at a large building but it was not clear whether any clashes between the troops and militants was taking place.
The raid came as a U.S. peace envoy, William Burns, was in the region holding talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an effort to renew negotiations under the road map, which calls for an end to three years of violence and the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.
It also came a day before Palestinian factions, including militant leaders, were set to meet in Cairo to negotiate a new truce in attacks on Israel.
Also Monday, in Hebron, IDF troops blew up a three-story building that belonged to a militant from Hamas killed by Israel in September, Palestinian witnesses said. The army had no comment.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/367035.html
By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz correspondents, and agencies
IDF forces mounting a major raid in Yasser Arafat's headquarters town of Ramallah Monday killed three armed Palestinian militants and a 9-year-old boy, later demolishing a four-story building believed to be hiding a Hamas man on Israel's most-wanted lists.
Two of the men were killed in the Amri refugee camp near the city. An explosive belt and several weapons were found near their bodies. Another armed Palestinian was killed in the Ramallah neighborhood of Umm Shrayat.
Palestinian sources said the boy was killed by IDF fire in El Bireh, a town
adjacent to Ramallah.
Also Monday, an IDF officer was lightly hurt by Palestinian fire near the Gaza Strip settlement of Ganei Tal, Army Radio reported.
The broad Ramallah operation was carried out by Shin Bet agents and large numbers of IDF troops, including units of most of the military's special forces.
The operation, months in the planning, was directed against what is considered to be militants who have acted "deep underground," in
particular secrecy.
In the afternoon, soldiers surrounded a four-story building in the city, telling residents to take out their belongings and leave the premises.
The building was then demolished by explosives, and troops searched for the fugitive they believed had been hining there.
Palestinian witnesses said dozens of people were arrested in the operation, including a Hamas leader, Ghassan Abassi. IDF officials confirmed "a number" of arrests, and said they had uncovered an explosives laboratory, which the army had destroyed.
Referring to the timing of the raid, mounted hours before Israeli and Palestinian delegrates were to gather in Switzerland for the formal launch of the Geneva Accord alternative peace plan, State-owned Israel Radio noted that the operation had been planned long in advance, and
that it was more likely tied to the possibility of a cease-fire in the near future.
It said the Israeli forces would be acting in the area of Arafat's Muqata headquarters, but would not be in close proximity to the compound, to which Israel has kept the PA chairman confined for years.
The attack is expected to conclude by the evening. The IDF said it had no intention of confronting PA forces or doing harm to the Muqata.
The Hamas organizational structure in Ramallah is headed by Sheikh Ibrahim Hamad, who has been wanted by Israel for several years. Hamad was responsible for the twin September suicide bombings of Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem and the Tsrifin army base outside Tel Aviv. Sixteen people were killed in the attacks.
Troops arrived in dozens of jeeps and the sounds of explosions and gunfire were heard in Ramallah's Masyon neighborhood, one of dozens
where the arrests were being carried out, witnesses said.
An Israeli military source said soldiers launched "a wide operation for arrests" in Ramallah early on Monday and were searching house-to-house for militants suspected of involvement in planning or carrying out attacks against Israelis.
The IDF made no official statement about the arrests and the source could not say how many suspects were being held.
Palestinian security officials said dozens of men under 40 were taken out of their homes in several neighborhoods of Ramallah and the neighboring al-Amri refugee camp. They could not say how many of these men were arrested.
In the Masyon neighborhood, witnesses saw soldiers shooting at a large building but it was not clear whether any clashes between the troops and militants was taking place.
The raid came as a U.S. peace envoy, William Burns, was in the region holding talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an effort to renew negotiations under the road map, which calls for an end to three years of violence and the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.
It also came a day before Palestinian factions, including militant leaders, were set to meet in Cairo to negotiate a new truce in attacks on Israel.
Also Monday, in Hebron, IDF troops blew up a three-story building that belonged to a militant from Hamas killed by Israel in September, Palestinian witnesses said. The army had no comment.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/367035.html