GAZA CITY, 22 August — Israeli forces raided a Gaza Strip refugee camp on a demolition mission yesterday, further undermining the Middle East process. Palestinians picked up sleeping children and ran through the dark to find shelter in back streets or a hospital as Israeli tanks and bulldozers invaded the Khan Younis refugee camp in the early hours.
"I was in the bathroom. The ceiling collapsed on me. I survived by a miracle," said Wafa Abu Awad, a resident of the camp.
The raid by tanks and helicopters followed the fatal shooting by a Palestinian militant of an Israeli soldier guarding a nearby Jewish settlement on Tuesday.
The Israeli Army said it had "destroyed two empty buildings which served as shooting posts and shelter" for Palestinians. Palestinian security sources and residents said a building was booby-trapped and blew up as Israeli troops retreated. The structure collapsed on small houses as people returned to them, killing one man and injuring six others.
The incursion followed the shooting by Hamas fighters of an Israeli soldier guarding a Jewish settlement.
"There were two helicopters in the sky. They started firing their machine guns on houses, in the streets, and sliced through the electricity wires. The whole refugee camp was thrown into darkness," said camp resident Salim Abu Amouna.
Palestinian residents and security sources said Israeli soldiers in up to 20 tanks entered one area of the camp and shouted with megaphones for residents to leave. Helicopters circled overhead and the tanks fired machine guns, they said.
Witnesses said at least 15 houses were destroyed or damaged. Hajar Abu Laws sat on the rubble of her house, striking her head repeatedly with hands in anger and grief. "I wish they had bombed my body and torn it into pieces and they did not destroy my house," the woman lamented.
Israeli and Palestinian officials sealed a security deal on Sunday whereby Israel would ease a clampdown on Bethlehem and Gaza if Palestinian police reduced "terror and violence". Troops pulled out of Bethlehem Tuesday.
The new security deal was shaken Tuesday after Israeli forces killed the brother of the leader of a Palestinian group in Ramallah, drawing a threat of retaliation. Mohammed Saadat was the brother of Ahmed Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
"Every time there is an effort to revive the peace process and put it back on track...the Israeli government will commit something to undermine this effort," said Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat, referring to the Saadat killing. "We need international monitors on the ground immediately," he said.
Ahmad Saadat said the killing of his brother adds to the "crimes" of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "The assassination of my brother and comrade Mohammed is a continuation of the series of crimes carried out by Sharon against our people," Saadat said in Jericho.
"Every Palestinian, children included, has become an assassination target, whether by bullets, planes or house demolitions. But these crimes will not dilute our people’s determination to recover their rights," he added. His group vowed revenge for the killing.
Despite the latest Israeli incursion, Palestinian security officials met with their Israeli counterparts at the Erez checkpoint in the northern Gaza Strip, to discuss Israeli troop withdrawals from Gaza. "We discussed a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in line with the initial understanding on a pullout from Bethlehem and Gaza," a senior Palestinian security official said after the meeting.
"I will brief political and security leaders on the results of this meeting," he added,.
The two sides were also due to discuss a possible withdrawal from the Palestinian sector of the divided West Bank city of Hebron, following the Bethlehem pullout, army radio reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials said their security forces have arrested several Hamas members accused of involvement in attacks on Israelis in East Jerusalem. They said five members of the group were caught on their way to mounting a new attack in central Israel.
