October 22, 2003	Wednesday	Sha’aban 25, 1424

RAMALLAH, Oct 21: Israeli forces on Tuesday raided the West Bank city where Yasser Arafat is based, encircled a mosque and fired weapons and teargas to disperse hundreds of stone-throwers, witnesses said.

Medical officials said at least 12 people were wounded, one critically, in the confrontation in Ramallah, hours after Mr Arafat asked for international help to stop Israel’s “military madness”.

Yasser Arafat made his appeal after Israel killed 10 Palestinians and wounded another 100 in five air strikes in Gaza on Monday.

Israel’s army, echoing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said there would be no let-up in its hunt for militants despite the risk of civilian deaths, which drew unusually tough criticism in Israel and opposition calls for an investigation.

On Tuesday evening, Israeli troops and tanks rolled into Ramallah and surrounded its Abdel Nasser mosque shortly after Maghrib prayers, declaring a curfew in the area.

Hundreds of youths came out to throw stones at the soldiers, who responded by using live fire and teargas.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat denounced the action as “a very dangerous escalation”.

In nearby El Bireh town, troops prevented staffers at the offices of the Arabic television Al Jazeera from leaving as searches were conducted. The station showed live footage of correspondents arguing with an Israeli officer on the premises.

Tensions in Ramallah have run especially high since Israel’s security cabinet decided in principle last month to “remove” Mr Arafat for fomenting violence. Arafat denies the charge.

Mr Arafat said world leaders, including a “Quartet” of powers trying to secure a peace agreement, should “immediately intervene to stop this military madness in which they aim to destroy the Holy Land and this steadfast people”.

The “Quartet” groups the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. Their efforts to end three years of bloodshed since the Palestinians began their uprising against Israel for statehood have bogged down in tit-for-tat violence.

FUNERALS, CALLS FOR REVENGE: World leaders have criticised Israel’s policy of tracking and killing Palestinian militants, primarily through air strikes, while also condemning suicide bombings by militants.

The bloodiest strike on Monday was at Nusseirat refugee camp, where witnesses said seven civilians were killed and 70 wounded by two missiles. One hit a car and the other slammed into a crowd that gathered nearby, witnesses said.

A military spokeswoman rejected the Palestinian account, saying the army was unaware of civilian fatalities in Nusseirat.

“All of the missiles hit their targets,” Major Sharon Feingold told Reuters, referring to helicopter gunships that the army said had chased down a carload of militants spotted trying to cross into Israel and suspected of planning an attack.

The air raids enraged Palestinians. Many Gazans stayed home in a general strike declared in respect for the dead, and thousands gathered at Nusseirat to bury them and vow revenge.

After nightfall, Gaza militants fired four mortar bombs at a Jewish settlement and at least three homemade rockets at a town across the boundary with Israel, the army said. No one was hurt.

In a separate incident, medical officials retrieved the bodies of two Palestinians who the army said were shot dead overnight while trying to infiltrate into Israel. Palestinian sources said the dead men were believed to have been militants.

Sharon told parliament on Monday the attacks on militants would continue until the Palestinian Authority cracks down on them. Palestinians say that doing so would risk a civil war.

Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres demanded an investigation into the Nusseirat deaths, saying: “The guilty one is the one who gives the orders to the air force.”

Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritsky of the centrist Shinui party said that when civilians were wounded: “Israel must apologize and find a way to compensate those who were hurt.” —Reuters