NABLUS, West Bank, 21 September 2007 — A fierce Israeli Army raid in a crowded West Bank refugee camp has spread terror and confined thousands of residents to their homes for a third straight day yesterday, and many said they’re running out of food and water.
There were indications that the operation was nearing its end, but the raid was especially painful for the 5,000 refugees, because it came during Ramadan, when Muslim families normally gather for large feasts at nightfall to end their daytime fast.
Israeli media reported before sundown yesterday that soldiers captured a cell of four militants from Hamas and the Popular Front groups who were planning a suicide attack. That was the stated goal of the raid, signaling that it was close to conclusion. The military said it arrested 35 suspects, including three Hamas militants accused of plotting to carry out a suicide bombing.
Also yesterday, Israeli forces moved into central Gaza to confront squads of militants who fire rockets at Israel almost every day. During that raid, a teenager died when he was hit by shrapnel and run over by an army bulldozer, hospital officials said. The left side of his face was crushed.
Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of the Health Ministry in Gaza identified the youth as 17-year-old Mahmoud Kassassi. No militant groups claimed him as a member. The Israeli Army said it was looking into the reports of the youth’s death.
During the raid, the army said aircraft attacked a vehicle carrying gunmen near its forces. Hamas said one of its fighters was killed. By yesterday afternoon, the operation was over and all forces had left Gaza, the army said.
The raid on the Ein Bet Ilmeh refugee camp next to the West Bank city of Nablus was one of the most extensive in the area in recent months. Damage was widespread, and smoke wafted over the camp, some of it from piles of tires set on fire by Palestinians trying to impede the Israeli forces.
In some cases, residents said, Israeli soldiers crashed through the walls of the flimsy concrete-block houses instead of confronting militants on the narrow streets. Residents said they were running out of food and water. The army said it was allowing food, medicine and ambulances into the camp, but with a tight curfew since Tuesday, some of the residents said they couldn’t leave their homes to buy food.
Lara Kanan, 23, said water was running out in some houses because rooftop water tanks had been hit by bullets. There were complaints by Palestinians that Israeli troops were using them to enter places where armed militants might be holed up —a practice outlawed by Israel’s Supreme Court.
Hussam Hamdan, 30, said troops marched him out of his own apartment early yesterday and forced him to enter a neighbor’s apartment to bring them out. The army said it was looking into Hamdan’s charge that soldiers used him as a shield as they moved from house to house.
Israeli troops backed by tanks and bulldozers launched the raid on Tuesday. Two Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed in the first two days of the fighting. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday called for a halt to the operation, which he said was the most recent example of Israel’s “policy of invasion.”
Abbas spoke at a joint press conference with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Troops fired rubber-coated bullets to disperse a protest by residents calling for an end to the raid, residents said. Two were wounded.
