GAZA CITY, 13 September — Israeli tanks rolled into the outskirts of Gaza City yesterday as troops demolished Palestinian homes. At the United Nations, US President George W. Bush made a new veiled call for Arafat to quit, mounting more pressure on the beleaguered leader.
As the tanks rumbled into the eastern neighborhoods of Al-Shujaiyah and Al-Muntar, clashes erupted between the encroaching Israeli forces and Palestinians trying to oppose them. There were no reports of injuries in the clashes.
At Al-Shujaiyah, the army blew up the home of Osama Hales, a Hamas member. Six other houses were damaged in the explosion. The army said in a statement Hales was responsible for a shooting attack in Gaza in November that left a Jewish settler dead and three others injured. Hales was shot dead by the army at that time.
“The destruction of houses is an important part of the overall steps taken in the framework of the struggle against terror,” the statement said.
Four tanks and an Israeli bulldozer also staged an incursion into the Al-Mughazi refugee camp, south of the city, where they demolished two houses.
Palestinian security officials said that tanks and bulldozers also moved around 500 meters into Rafah town on the southern border with Egypt, where they destroyed three more houses. Israeli forces have stepped up their raids on Gaza in the past weeks.
As Israel stepped up operations in the Gaza Strip, Arafat in his West Bank base of Ramallah was reeling from the most stinging political blow delivered yet by the Palestinian Parliament. On Wednesday the Parliament forced a showdown with Arafat’s new Cabinet over a confidence vote. Facing certain defeat, the ministers resigned en masse, with the session recessing for two weeks for Arafat to form a new line-up, which will also have to submit to a trust vote.
Bush made a fresh reference to the need for Arafat’s ouster in a key speech focused on Iraq at the UN General Assembly. Without naming Arafat, he said, as he did in a June speech on the Middle East, that the current Palestinian leadership was flawed.
“In the Middle East, there can be no peace for either side without freedom for both sides,” Bush said. “America stands committed to an independent and democratic Palestine, living beside Israel in peace and security. Like all other people, Palestinians deserve a government that serves their interests and listens to their voices.” Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called on the US president to turn words into action on creating a Palestinian state.
