[GushShalom] Huge nr of houses demolished

[Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)]

GUSH SHALOM  pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 www.gush-shalom.org

  The Tunnels - Reason or Pretext.

  #Haaretz: Huge number of houses demolished in Rafah raid 
  #sample letter of protest and addresses

Haaretz English (not found yet in Hebrew edition): 13/10/2003 18:17 

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=349348&con
trassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
 
UN official: 1,240 Palestinians made homeless by Rafah raid
 
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and 
Agencies 

Up to 1,240 Palestinians have been made homeless in
the most recent operation by the Israel Defense
Forces in the Gaza Strip, a senior United Nations
official said Sunday.
  
Peter Hansen, commissioner general of the UN Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA)for Palestinian refugees, said that
"many houses have been completely demolished".

UNRWA said that about the 1,240 Palestinians were left 
homeless during the three-day raid by IDF troops hunting 
for tunnels used to smuggle weapons from Egypt into the 
Strip. This was the largest-scale demolition of houses in 
a single operation in Gaza in the past three years of fighting.

"We have had very, very significant damage to
the refugee camp," Hansen said after inspecting
the damage Sunday. "Many houses, maybe as many
as 120, have been completely demolished."

UNRWA said 114 refugee shelters were destroyed
in the raid. Another 117 buildings were
damaged.

The IDF said Saturday that three tunnels had
been located and destroyed, but warned Sunday
that the operation would continue, despite the
withdrawal of most of the troops in the early
hours, for as long as the tunnels were being
used.

IDF sources, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said over the weekend that Israel had
intelligence warnings that Palestinians were
planning to use tunnels under the Egyptian
border to smuggle in weapons that could have a
strategic impact on the three-year
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the Egyptians
were not taking steps to stop them.

Sources said the smuggled weaponry may include
Stinger shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft missiles
that could shoot down the attack helicopters
Israel often uses in operations in Gaza.

tinger missiles could also threaten Israel Air
Force warplanes or civilian aircraft flying
close to the Gaza Strip.

Also, the sources said, the Palestinians were
trying to smuggle Katyusha rockets, which have
the range to hit Israeli cities near the Strip.
During the conflict, the Palestinians have been
aiming homemade mortars and rockets at Israeli
towns and settlements.

Three Qassams hit Negev 
Three Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip
landed in the western Negev area of Israel on
Sunday.

Two of the rockets, which were fired in the
afternoon, landed near a kibbutz. There were no
injuries, but damage was caused to a factory,
Army Radio reported.

Early Sunday morning, Palestinians fired a
Qassam rocket at the town of Sderot, Israel
Radio reported. No injuries were reported, but
a road was damaged.

Late Saturday night, troops thwarted an
attempted terror attack when they discovered
three Palestinian militants trying to place a
bomb in the southern Gaza Strip settlement of
Morag.

The troops opened fire shortly before midnight,
killing one of the men. Troops then chased
away the other two would-be terrorists. The
militant's body was found a short time later
near three explosive devices which sappers then
neutralized.

Troops met with much opposition during the Rafah
operation and IDF officers expressed surprise
at the extent of the militants' firepower,
including the hundreds of bombs, grenades and
anti-tank missiles Palestinians threw at the
troops, Israel Radio reported.

Eight Palestinians, including a nine-year-old
and a 12-year-old, were killed during the
operation. A spokesman for the IDF said that a
19-year-old Palestinian killed on Saturday had
been armed.

At least 70 Palestinians were reported wounded
in the operation, most when a helicopter fired
a missile at a crowd. The IDF said the missile
targeted a group of gunmen.

Israeli forces also demolished five buildings
used by militants to fire on troops, the
military spokesman said. He also said another
three buildings used to conceal gunrunner
tunnels were demolished as well.

Witnesses in Rafah said IDF troops demolished 42
homes, although it was not immediately clear
how many of these were individual buildings.

"It could be that Palestinian fire also caused
structural damage," the spokesman said,
referring to heavy resistance Israeli troops
encountered when they stormed Rafah at daybreak
Friday in the deepest raid there for six
months.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior aide to Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, called the
operation a "war crime and a human tragedy."

The funerals of the Palestinian casualties took
place over the weekend, during which masked men
called for revenge and fired their weapons in
the air. The dead were identified as: Ibrahim
Krinawi, 8; Sami Salah, 12; Mabruk Juda, 18 and
Yihyeh Sharif, 19; Nader Abu Taha, 22; Mohammed
Abd al Waheb, 23; Mohammed Yunis, 28 and Ala
Mansour, 23.

Palestinian sources said that medical
professionals were also hurt in operation, and
that the IDF initially prevented ambulances
from arriving at the area of the fighting. They
said that later on ambulances were allowed to
evacuate the wounded into a makeshift clinic.

Rafah residents said troops seized a strip of
land 150 meters deep into the camp, a known
militant stronghold, and soldiers took
positions on roof tops.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday
condemned the Rafah raid, saying that Israel's
"disproportionate use of force in densely
populated areas is not compatible with
international humanitarian law." He called on
both sides in the conflict "to take every
measure to avoid harming innocent civilians.
					***
Sample letter of protest: 

To Prime Minister Sharon

Dear Sir

I hereby join the protest of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan condemning 
the Rafah raid. Your government's
disproportionate use of force in densely populated areas is not compatible 
with international humanitarian law.

Considering statements made by former general Yom-Tov Samya in the 
past it seems that your army is especially interested in demolishing houses 
in Rafah and uses every pretext ("opportunity") to demolish as many of 
them as possible.

You better realize that you cannot for ever play deaf towards world public 
opinion. The day will come that you will have to account for your deeds. 
Nobody is immune for ever; remember Pinochet.

[your name]

addresses:

To:
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon <pm_eng at pmo.gov.il>
Spokesperson of the Prime Minister <dover at pmo.gov.il>
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz <sar at mod.gov.il>
Spokesperson Defense Ministry <info at mail.idf.il>
Foreign Minister Silwan Shalom <sar at mofa.gov.il>

and/or via the Israeli embassy in your environment; addresses of Israeli 
embassies at http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/israel1.htm

with copies to:

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan <ecu at un.org>, <coi at un.org>
US President George W. Bush <president at whitehouse.gov>
"Secretary of State,  Colin Powell" <secretary at state.gov>,
Mr. Terje Rod Larsen <unsco at palnet.com>, <lemore at un.org>
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights <webadmin.hchr at unog.ch>
European Parliament Belgian Office <epbrussels at europarl.eu.int 
European Union  <civis at europarl.eu.int>, <public.info at consilium.eu.int>

If possible  send  in addition a fax or hardcopy letter to:

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan Street, P O Box 187 
Jerusalem 91919, Israel
Fax:  +972 2 6705475 

--
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http://www.stopmoskowitz.org/

Online support for the pilot's letter;
http://www.tayasim.org.il/support.asp?

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