Israeli troops leave trail of destruction in Gaza

Israeli troops left behind a trail of destruction before withdrawing from a refugee camp in southern Gaza today.

They demolished dozens of homes and businesses, destroying water pipes, electric cables and rendering hundreds of Palestinians homeless in the Rafah camp.

The Israeli military said it had to secure the area for troops retrieving body parts of five soldiers killed when Palestinian militants blew up their armoured personnel vehicle earlier this week.

It also reported heavy “collateral damage” from exchanges of fire with Palestinian militants.

“Militants took over the houses evacuated by the civilians and used them for cover to shoot at the forces,” said Brig Gen Shmuel Zakai, the Israeli commander in Gaza. He said militants had also used mosques, children and ambulances for cover as they moved around.

The United Nations agency that delivers aid to Palestinians was among the first to survey the damage. Paul McCann, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency, said 88 buildings had been demolished, leaving 1,064 people homeless.

Residents rushed back to the scene of destruction later today to grab what remained of their belongings and survey the damage done to their property.

“There is nothing left, only rubble, tears and fears for the future.” said Raslan Abu Taha, 39, whose house was knocked down.

The withdrawal came as Palestinians bitterly marked the anniversary of Israel’s establishment 56 years ago, a day known to Palestinians as “the catastrophe”.

The latest fighting left some families displaced for a second or third time since Israeli independence.

“This is the irony,” said Hamza Al-Sha’er, 71, as he sat in a makeshift tent in a school yard. “On the anniversary of the catastrophe, history repeats the same tragedy: the same victims and the same killers.”

Al-Sha’er is a Palestinian refugee who was displaced from his home near the Israeli city of Ashkelon in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

He said he spent years living in overcrowded quarters until he finally mustered up the money to build a house for himself and his 18-member extended family in the Rafah camp.

He said his home was demolished by Israeli troops several years ago. He managed to build another house, which was demolished in this week’s violence, leaving him homeless for the third time in 56 years.

Rafah, which lies on the Gaza Egypt border, is a site of frequent Israeli military operations. The army says the incursions are aimed at uncovering weapons smuggling tunnels used by Palestinian militants.

Israeli raids into the camp over the past three years of Palestinian-Israeli violence have left more than 10,000 Palestinians homeless, or nearly 10% of the camp’s 90,000 residents, local officials say.

Since the outbreak of fighting in September 2000, Israel has razed 1,026 houses in Rafah and damaged 767, the claim.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday condemned the demolition of Palestinian homes, and Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, representing the European Union, called for the demolitions to halt immediately.

The EU criticism prompted Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom to accuse the bloc of “hypocrisy.”

He criticised the EU for not condemning the Palestinian militants who proudly displayed the body parts of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza this week.