JABALIYA, Gaza Strip, 11 September 2004 — Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during an armored invasion into the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, Palestinian medics said. Bahi Nasser, 14, and another as yet unidentified Palestinian were killed after an Israeli tank opened fire in early evening, the medics said. Earlier in the raid, Hamas commander Abdelaziz Al-Ashqar, 34, and Saleh Hazaa, 22, were also killed by Israeli fire, they added. Another 50 people were treated for injuries.
Palestinian security forces said at least 10 houses in the impoverished camp were demolished by Israeli troops. Israeli forces backed by tanks, armored vehicles, bulldozers and Apache attack helicopters intensified a military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Witnesses said helicopters had continued to fire missiles and machineguns, while tanks fired dozens of shells at houses and militants as bulldozers razed houses, factories and farms. Palestinian residents said Israeli forces stormed the two northern towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahya from the northern settlements of Nissanet and Erez Crossing on the northern tip of Gaza. Palestinian security sources said there were now fears that the Israeli Army would carry out a large-scale operation into Jabalya refugee camp, with a population of around 150,000.
The Israeli Army also sealed off the Palestinian territories for the Jewish holiday season in Israel. The growing spiral of violence could further complicate Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw troops and settlers from the occupied Gaza Strip by the end of 2005.
Palestinian security chiefs will hold their first talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo next week to coordinate strategy in the face of Israel’s Gaza withdrawal plan, a Palestinian official said yesterday. The meeting set to begin tomorrow follows Egypt’s offer to help train Palestinian security officers in preparation for an Israeli pullout planned by the end of 2005. But Egypt’s initiative appears to have made little progress so far.
Egypt, one of only two Arab states to have a peace treaty with Israel, wants to help prevent any collapse into anarchy or an Islamist takeover on its borders after the Israelis leave. But Cairo showed reluctance on Wednesday to send security advisers into the Gaza Strip after failing to win an Israeli agreement to halt attacks on Palestinian militants and raids into Gaza.
