Israeli army kills two in raids

Israeli troops raided a Gaza Strip town and a refugee camp today, killing a gunman and an apparent bystander and destroying several alleged weapon workshops.

Fourteen Palestinians were wounded in exchanges of fire.

Palestinians said the operation in the Khan Younis refugee camp was the most extensive there in nearly 28 months of fighting.

Tanks and armoured vehicles moved into the camp after midnight, crushing cars, tearing up roads and damaging several homes, witnesses said.

Near the West Bank town of Hebron, Palestinians shot at an Israeli tanker truck and civilian security guards in the truck returned fire, killing a Palestinian gunman, who was identified as an activist in the Islamic militant group Hamas, the army said.

The attack on the truck came a day after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat asked militant groups to stop attacks on Israeli civilians in the run-up to Israel’s January 28 general election.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon brushed off Arafat’s call today, saying it proved it is impossible to negotiate with the Palestinian leader, whom he accused of heading a ”terror coalition”.

“Prior to the elections, long before the elections, it’s possible to murder,” Sharon said sarcastically, speaking at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting.

“Close to the elections, it’s best to stop and after the elections, it’s desirable to continue.”

In the Khan Younis raid, fierce battles erupted between soldiers and gunmen. At least one Palestinian was killed and 14 were wounded in the fighting, Palestinian hospital officials said.

Troops blew up six metal workshops used to manufacture weapons, the army said.

Palestinians denied the workshops were used for weapon-making. They said the army destroyed at least 12 workshops and a six-car garage, damaging several nearby houses, leaving some uninhabitable and forcing 45 people into the streets.

Ibrahim Zakzuk, 55, who owns one of the destroyed workshops, said he lost equipment worth $50,000 and would have to lay off five employees, adding to the already high numbers of Palestinians who are out of work due to the ongoing violence.

“I challenge Sharon and his army to bring to the world any evidence that this small industrial area was used on any day to produce weapons. It’s war against our economy and against our small industry and small businesses,” Zakzuk said.

Israeli forces also raided the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, destroying a house that belonged to an Islamic Jihad militant who was killed while attacking an Israeli ship in November, the army said.

Palestinians said a second house was demolished, but the army did not confirm this.

A 45-year-old Palestinian was killed in the Beit Hanoun operation, Palestinian hospital officials said. Relatives said the man walked out of his home to see the aftermath of the raid and was shot in the head as troops withdrew from the area.

The army said it fired on an armed Palestinian, but did not say if he was hit.

Later, Palestinian militants fired three short-range rockets from Gaza at the Israeli town of Sderot in the southern Negev Desert. The rockets landed in an open field, the army said.

About 30 tanks and jeeps entered the West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian officials said. Soldiers conducted house-to-house searches in the eastern sector of the city in an apparent attempt to track down militants, they said.

In the past six months, Israel has reoccupied every major West Bank town and city, except Jericho, in response to Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians. They often impose curfew, search homes and hunt for militants.

Israel’s Cabinet decided to step up military operations against suspected Palestinian militants after two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Tel Aviv last week, killing 22 people.

Yesterday, two Palestinians boys, aged nine and 13, were captured after they entered the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in Gaza, the army said. The boys, who carried knives, tried to enter a house belonging to the settlement’s rabbi. The two ran away when the rabbi opened fire at them, the officials said.

After a short chase, the two were captured by security forces. The military said one of the young intruders was wounded during the chase. No Israelis were injured.

Last week, three Palestinian teenagers were killed as they tried to infiltrate a Jewish settlement. Relatives said that one had expressed the desire to die while attacking Israelis.