OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 9 October — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon scoffing at international criticism said yesterday that he would press on with military operations into the Gaza Strip, a day after a bloody raid killed 14 Palestinians.
"The complicated operation we carried out (Monday) was a success. It was an important one and there will be other operations of this sort in the Gaza Strip," Sharon said.
Tanks, backed by helicopters and bulldozers, stormed the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis Monday, killing 14 Palestinians and wounding scores. Almost all of those killed were civilians.
Meanwhile, two persons injured during the massive Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip died of their wounds yesterday, raising the Palestinian death toll from the operation to 16, Palestinian medical sources said.
Sharon’s remarks also drew condemnation from the Palestinians with a top adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Nabil Abu Rudeina, calling the Israeli premier’s statement "a declaration of war."
"We call on the Security Council and the Middle East quartet to act to stop this aggression," he said, referring to the so-called quartet of diplomatic powers, the US, UN, the European Union and Russia.
Israeli tanks patrolling the southern Gaza Strip opened fire into a Palestinian refugee camp yesterday, killing a girl, Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials said.
In fresh violence, four Israelis were wounded in an ambush near Hebron in the West Bank, while new clashes erupted between Palestinian police and supporters of the Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A group of Palestinians ambushed a car at a junction near Hebron, injuring four Israelis, security sources and medics said.
A Reuters cameraman in Hebron said several Jewish settlers in the divided city attacked Palestinian shop owners on news of the shooting, forcing them to close their market stalls.
Fresh clashes broke out when Hamas supporters threw three home-made hand grenades at Gaza police headquarters.
According to an AFP correspondent on the scene, the demonstrators were dispersed and nobody was injured in the incident.
The crowd also stoned the police station, trashed police cars and destroyed a traffic police post before being dispersed, while others pelted police officers near the funeral of one of four Hamas men killed in gunbattles with police after the death of riot police chief Brig. Gen. Rajeh Abu Lehya on Monday.
In the West Bank village of Beit Rima, the Israeli Army nabbed a member from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah group yesterday, witnesses said.
In another development, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday Palestinian President Yasser Arafat should devolve power to new Palestinian leaders but suggested Washington could acquiesce if he remained in office with diluted powers.
