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26.10.03, 06:24
IDF kills four militants, blows up three buildings in Gaza Strip
By Arnon Regular and Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service
and Agencies
At least four Palestinian militants were shot dead
overnight Sunday by Israel Defense Forces troops
in the Gaza Strip, during attempts to infiltrate
into two settlements and an IDF outpost in Gush
Katif, which were apparently coordinated, Israel
Radio reported.
The IDF blew up three partly
constructed buildings in the
central Gaza Strip on Sunday
after temporarily evacuating
an estimated 2,000
Palestinian residents living
nearby, witnesses said.
They said the three 13-storey
buildings which overlooked
the Netzarim settlement were dynamited, the
sound of the explosion echoing across the
densely populated coastal strip.
Security sources said the buildings were
destroyed because Palestinian militants had
used them to plan an attack on Netzarim on
Friday in which three Israeli soldiers were
killed.
The temporary evacuation order was issued to
prevent civilian casualties when the buildings
were blown up, the sources said.
One security official said plans to demolish the
buildings were drawn up about a year ago but
the decision to implement them was taken only
after Friday's attack, which was claimed by
Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"We gave them a chance," the source said. "We
expect buildings owned by the Palestinian
Authority will not be used for terrorist
activities, but after the raid on Friday we saw
that we could not let this go on."
The source said the two gunmen behind Friday's
attack had spent weeks monitoring patrols and
troop movements in the heavily guarded
settlement in central Gaza from the towers.
The militants carried out their gunfire and
grenade attack as fog shrouded the settlement
early on Friday morning. One militant was
killed and the other escaped.
Senior security sources said all the several
hundred settlers living at Netzarim were taking
refuge in bomb shelters until the Gaza
buildings had been blown up.
Hundreds of Israeli troops, including demolition
experts and humanitarian liaison officers, were
deployed in the operation to evacuate residents
living in a 400 meter radius of the three
bulidings.
Commanders, who were monitoring the situation on
live video from a command centre in southern
Israel, said the operation was very complex.
Palestinian ambulances were allowed to evacuate
elderly people from their homes.
Residents were issued with leaflets in Arabic
saying: "You must leave your homes immediately
until the end of this operation. The army is
going to blow up some sites. Please leave your
windows open, turn off electrical devices and
go to the southern part of your neighborhood.
Anyone who stays is risking his life. Anyone
seen with a weapon will risk his life."
IDF destroys PA police station
On Saturday, IDF troops destroyed a Palestinian
police station in the Gaza Strip, witnesses
said, one day after the Netzarim attack.
The troops in tanks and jeeps opened fire on the
police station and demanded that those inside
leave with their hands above their heads. The
station, once evacuated, was blown up,
witnesses said.
An IDF official described the action as a
"pinpoint operation against the terror
infrastructure," but declined to provide
further details.
The army believes that one of the terrorists who
carried out the Netzarim attack found refuge at
the police station.
The three soldiers - two women and a man - were
killed when two terrorists infiltrated the
heavily-guarded Netzarim settlement at around
4:20 A.M. Friday. One was shot dead and the
second fled.
The head of the IDF's southern command, Major
General Dan Harel, said Friday that the army
would launch a full investigation into the
attack.
The wounded soldiers, a man with moderate
injuries and a woman in serious condition, were
airlifted to Barzilai Medical Center in
Ashkelon for treatment.
The woman underwent surgery and is recovering in
the Intensive Care Unit, Army Radio reported.
The dead soldiers were identified as Staff
Sergeant Alon Avrahami, 20, from Or Yehuda;
Sergeant Adi Osman, 19, from Kfar Sava; and
Sergeant Sarit Shneor-Senior, 19, from Shoham.
Osman was buried at 1:30 P.M. Friday in Kfar
Sava. Shneor will be laid to rest at 2 P.M. on
Sunday in Ramle. Avrahami will be buried at 2
P.M. on Sunday in Holon.
Female soldiers were unarmed
Einat Osman, Adi's sister, said Friday that a
month ago the IDF reclaimed the weapons of
female soldiers serving in Netzarim due to
budget cuts. She said that her sister wanted to
be a combat soldier, but instead underwent a
radio technician training course, and felt that
she was redundant in Netzarim, having no
significant duty to perform during her service
there. The Osman family criticized IDF presence
in Netzarim.
Speaking to Israel Radio, Harel said that
militants, aware of the heavy mists that close
in on Gaza at this time of year, were
increasing the intensity of their attacks. "The
fact that in the past day we have killed
several terrorists in various parts of Gaza is
proof of this," he said.
Harel said one terrorist entered the camp and
began shooting at the camp's barracks, while
the second remained outside the perimeter.
Al Manar television, run by Hezbollah, said a
caller to its Gaza office claimed joint
responsibility on behalf of Hamas and Islamic
Jihad. The attacker was identified as Samir
Fouda, 21, a Hamas militant from Gaza's Jabalya
refugee camp, and said the other assailant
escaped.
The two Palestinian groups announced after a
meeting in Beirut on Monday that they would
strengthen their "bilateral cooperation" in
battling "the Zionist aggression against the
Palestinian people."
A Hamas official said members of the group's
leadership also met separately with senior
officials from Hezbollah.
During the infiltration, Palestinians diverted
Israeli troops by firing at soldiers stationed
near Netzarim, Israel Radio reported. They shot
at troops near Atzmona, Rafah and Neveh
Dekalim, but did not hit any of the soldiers
there, according to the report.
Following the attack, troops closed off the road
between the settlement, located in the northern
Strip, and the Karni crossing in the south,
Army Radio reported.
Two Gaza youths die from wounds suffered in IAF
raid
Two Palestinian youths on Saturday died from
wounds suffered in an Israeli air strike
earlier in the week on a vehicle in the Gaza
Strip refugee camp of Nuseirat, Israel Radio
reported.
Fourteen Palestinians in all were killed in the
Israel Air Force raid.
