gelatik
20.11.02, 22:03
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan "deplored" Wednesday, November
20, the death of seven Palestinian civilians, including three teenage
children, following an Israeli raid in the West Bank town of Tulkarem only a
few days after describing a Palestinian resistance attack against Israeli
occupation forces a "despicable terrorist attack".
"The Secretary General once again urges the Government of Israel to desist
from the use of excessive force in civilian areas," Annan said in a statement
read by U.N. spokeswoman Hua Jiang at the daily press conference, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
"Six of the deaths came during an Israeli military raid" Tuesday night,
November 19, which killed a suspected Palestinian activist, Annan said,
adding that "at least a dozen civilians were wounded."
The raid came as the Israeli Labor Party chose the dovish Amram Mitzna to
lead the party into a January general election.
Mitzna has promised a swift resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians
if elected Prime Minister.
"The Secretary General calls on the parties to refrain from acts of violence,
provocation or retaliation," Annan said in the statement.
"A political settlement remains the only viable solution to the conflict," he
added.
Annan's comments came on the same day two Palestinian children were wounded
by Israeli shrapnel in Gaza.
Israeli tanks shells wounded Wednesday two Palestinian children as they
played football in the Bureij refugee camp south of Gaza City, Palestinian
security officials said.
An Israeli army spokesman said forces had allegedly "opened fire on suspects
in a forbidden zone" after dark.
No incidents had been reported in the sector prior to the shelling, said AFP.
Earlier, Annan was quick to condemn a Palestinian resistance attack against
Israeli soldiers that took place Friday, November 15, calling it
a "despicable terrorist attack".
Twelve Israelis were killed, including nine soldiers and policemen and three
settlers, in the Friday evening attack.
Annan called on Palestinian groups to "stop all such acts of senseless
violence, which are extremely harmful to the Palestinian cause."
An Israeli writer said Sunday, November 17, that what happened in Al-Khalil
Friday night was not a "massacre," as claimed by the Israeli spokespeople,
nor was it an attack on "peaceful Jewish worshippers" returning from prayers
at the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
Ha'aretz correspondent Amos Harel said, "The attack actually began several
minutes after all of the worshippers had already returned safely to Kiryat
Arba. The twelve Israeli casualties in Hebron [Al-Khalil] were not murdered.
Those killed Friday were killed in combat".
All of the victims were armed fighters, who were more or less trained. They
fell victim to a well-planned ambush that included both machine-gun fire and
grenades, which trapped them in a compromising situation they found hard to
overcome.
"The ambush actually took place in the 'Israeli' section of Al-Khalil, dozens
of meters from the Kiryat Arba security fence, in an area occupied by the
Israeli forces before the withdrawal, and where soldiers have continued to
operate since the withdrawal."
