NABLUS/GAZA CITY, 28 April 2004 — Israeli troops killed three Palestinians early yesterday, two in the West Bank city of Tulkarm and a child in Ramallah, witnesses and medical sources said. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli troops swept into Tulkarm refugee camp amid intensive shooting and imposed a strict curfew. Then they opened heavy gunfire at the civilians, killing two and wounding another seriously.
Medical sources at Thabet Hospital confirmed that Ashraf Hasan 25, and Amjad Umara 21, were killed with a gunshot in the head while a third was critically wounded.
A child from the city of Ramallah died early yesterday of wounds he sustained when Israeli soldiers opened fire at the civilian houses in Abu Mashaal — a village near the city — the medical sources said. The sources confirmed that Islam Zahran 14, died of the wounds he sustained.
In Gaza, three Palestinians were shot dead on Monday night by Israeli troops. Israeli sources said that two of them were members of Hamas movement, while the third is a 14-year-old boy from northern Gaza refugee camp of Jabalya.
Palestinian security sources reported that that a huge explosion was heard in the camp and then two dead bodies were found. One of the two had a bullet in the head.
At least four other Palestinians were wounded in clashes, one of whom was snatched from his hospital bed by Israeli troops shortly afterward, Palestinian security sources said. The army denied it entered the hospital. An army spokesman said the two Palestinians killed belonged to the Hamas armed wing, Ezzedin El-Qassam Brigades, who were shot dead as they tried to attack soldiers.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Aeriel Sharon’s chief of staff, Gen. Moshe Yaalon, promised the army would continue its policy of decapitating radical militant movements by carrying out “targeted killings” against its leaders. After thousands of Israelis took to the streets Monday night to attend fireworks displays and concerts throughout the country, Sharon delivered another speech yesterday in which he said his “disengagement” plan was an opportunity for peace.
His package of unilateral measures is fiercely opposed by Jewish settlers, who demonstrated yesterday afternoon in the Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands of Jews gathered in the settlement bloc of Gush Katif to stage a march against the plan.
Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat told AFP yesterday that the Palestinian Authority was banking on upcoming meetings of the quartet of diplomatic players in the Middle East to obtain some guarantees. This meeting “is very important, it will decide the future path of the peace process,” he said. The quartet — the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia — is due to meet at envoy level on May 2 in London, ahead of a higher level meeting in New York on May 4.
Nabil Abu Rudeina, a top adviser to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, told reporters that there will be specific Palestinian requests from the quartet in its meeting. Abu Rudeina was speaking in Al-Moqataa in the West Bank town of Ramallah. “We will call on the quartet to recommit itself to the road map and to work on its implementation. We will try also to obtain a resolution from the UN Security Council that preserves our national rights because Sharon’s plan aims to escape from the road map and the international legitimacy.”
He added that there would be no real peace outside agreements based on the 1967 borders. During a visit to Amman, Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds stressed that the quartet should take the lead in enforcing the road map peace blueprint it drafted for a two-state settlement.
As celebrations for what Israelis call Independence Day were wrapping up, Israeli Arabs staged a march yesterday for Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe) Day in one of the villages whose Arab residents were forced to flee during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when Israel was created.
—Additional input from agencies.
