GAZA CITY, 3 March 2003 — Three Palestinians were killed and dozens were injured by gunfire yesterday in daylong Israeli Army incursions into southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, Palestinian medical sources reported.
The sources said that early yesterday two Palestinians were killed and 39 were injured west of Khan Younis as Israeli Army tanks and bulldozers raided the Al-Namsawi neighborhood. Three houses and a hospital fence were destroyed.
During the funeral of the two who were killed in the incursion, Israeli soldiers opened fire at hundreds of Palestinian mourners near the graveyard.
Among the injured was a nine-year-old boy who later died of his wounds in hospital. Two others were in serious condition.
Meanwhile, a 53-year-old woman died of wounds sustained when Israeli soldiers demolished her house while she was inside in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 23.
Palestinian Authority Local Affairs Minister Saeb Erekat condemned the incursion, saying that the Israeli Army deployment of tanks and bulldozers into Khan Younis “is an Israeli preparation for reoccupation of the entire Gaza Strip”.
“The Israeli government of war is using the world’s silence to commit more crimes and more killing, destruction and escalation against the Palestinian people,” said Erekat.
He called upon the international community and the Quartet Committee “to start as urgently as possible to implement the US roadmap peace plan in the Palestinian territories”.
Meanwhile, Shaul Mofaz began his second term as defense minister with a vow to crack down harder on Palestinians.
As he was visiting troops in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Mofaz warned: “In the Gaza Strip, we are going to intensify the pressure on Hamas, as we have done in the past weeks, and we are going to do the same thing in the West Bank.”
The Israeli Army has vowed to smash the infrastructure of Hamas in its Gaza stronghold after several home-made rockets were fired on Israeli targets inside and outside the territory.
Israeli troops have relentlessly pounded Gaza in recent weeks and there was little hope of any respite as one of the most hawkish governments in the Jewish state’s history was taking office.
Most of the newly appointed ministers in the 23-strong lineup took over their respective portfolios yesterday, with the priority clearly set on rescuing the country from its dire economic state.
Sharon’s inaugural speech last Thursday put peace efforts on the back burner, as he admitted that far-right elements in his Cabinet could complicate peace initiatives.
Commentators have argued that Israel would now wait for the United States to wrap up its military campaign to topple the Iraqi regime before considering any peace moves.
They say that Sharon hopes by then Amram Mitzna’s Labour Party could replace the extreme right in the coalition and stabilize the government in its drive for talks with the Palestinians, as demanded by the US administration. However the Palestinians have already taken significant steps toward meeting international demands for reform of their institutions.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has called a meeting for this week to discuss the appointment of a prime minister, a senior aide said Saturday.
The bets were on Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) number two Mahmud Abbas — better known as Abu Mazen — being appointed to the new post.
