GAZA CITY, 6 September 2005 — At least four Palestinians were killed and 25 were injured last night after a huge explosion destroyed a house in the eastern part of Gaza City, witnesses and Palestinian security sources reported. The explosion, heard across Gaza City, immediately drew ambulances and firefighters as well as dozens of residents to scene to help evacuate casualties.
Witnesses said electricity went out after the explosion, and three neighboring buildings near the explosion site were also severely damaged. Palestinian medics in Gaza said a woman was among the four known dead, and 25 other residents were injured by the explosion, the source of which is still unclear. The incident occurred in the Zaytoon neighborhood, known as a stronghold for Islamic militant groups.
Meanwhile, three armed groups affiliated to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah party yesterday flouted calls to disarm after Israel completes its pullout from the occupied Gaza Strip. “We cannot allow anyone to destroy our happiness in our victory. We reject having any Israeli remain at the Rafah border crossing and we cannot allow Gaza to be under siege,” said a joint statement sent to AFP.
“Resistance is legal and there is no question that if the occupation continues we cannot let our weapons go at any price,” added the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Abu Rish Brigades and the Fatah Falcons. They vowed that the resistance would continue until Israel released all Palestinian prisoners, allowed all refugees and Palestinian exiles to return and Jerusalem was “forever” the capital of a Palestinian state.
The groups also urged Arab and Muslim states not to open relations with Israel after Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri met his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom last week.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has already made clear that it would not disarm after Israel leaves the Gaza Strip following a warning last week from the interior ministry that armed groups would not be tolerated.
At least 16 people were injured when hundreds of unemployed Palestinian men and teenagers clashed with security forces yesterday in the second day of violent protests in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of protesters ran amok in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, denouncing the Palestinian Authority for failing to provide them with jobs and for charging them tuition at state schools.
Men and teenagers, in light blue school uniforms, hurled concrete, fire bombs and metal bars at riot police near Khan Yunis’ municipal building and police station.
They set tires on fire and ripped down an electricity transformer, some sped by on bicycles and pedaled fast when police chased them on foot through the street’s detritus of rocks, bricks, glass and melted rubber.
Sixteen people were taken to hospital with injuries sustained in the fracas, including five policemen and 11 civilians hurt by stone throwers, Palestinian security sources said.
At least 200 helmeted riot police and national security officers battled to disperse the crowd, firing a bevy of warning shots into the air before the protesters charged back chanting “we’re fighting for our bread.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s Army drove Palestinian security commanders around demolished settlements in occupied Gaza. The aim of the visit was to allow the Palestinians to plan for an orderly deployment of their security forces after the Israeli military pulls out of the settlements, Israeli security sources said.
Israel evacuated all 8,500 Jewish settlers from its 21 Gaza settlements last month under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan for “disengaging” from conflict with the Palestinians. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have met in recent months to loosely coordinate the withdrawal, the first removal of settlements from land the Palestinians want for a state.
But this was a rare instance of on-the-ground security cooperation, the result of US pressure on both sides, since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000. US-led mediators hopes the pullout will be a catalyst for renewed peacemaking.
