October 27, 2003	Monday	Sha’aban 30, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

NETZARIM (Gaza Strip), Oct 26: The Israeli army dynamited three empty apartment blocks in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in what it said was retaliation for a deadly Palestinian attack on a nearby Jewish settlement.

Troops evacuated more than 2,000 Palestinians from nearby homes before triggering the explosions, which sent clouds of black smoke billowing up and rocked the area for kilometres around, damaging many other structures.

In a separate incident, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian gunman who approached an army base in the Gush Katif block of Jewish settlements in Gaza, military sources said.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said the militant was one of its members and vowed to avenge his death.

The demolition of the 13-storey buildings, unfinished apartment blocks owned by Palestinian security services, would heighten tensions amid tit-for-tat violence that has stalled a US-backed “road map” to peace.

Israeli military officials claimed they blew up the buildings because they had been used as observation posts for planning an attack on Friday that killed three soldiers at the nearby Jewish settlement of Netzarim.

“I hope it will be a good message to the Palestinian Authority not to let their infrastructure be used for terror,” Brigadier-General Gadi Shamni, head of Israeli forces in the area, told Reuters.

POLICE STATION: It was the largest demolition of Palestinian Authority buildings in Gaza since the start in September 2000 of an uprising for statehood. At least 156 families had purchased apartments in the three buildings, local officials said.

“These Israeli provocations won’t pass without a price,” said Nabil Abu Rdainah, a senior aide to Arafat. “(Demolitions) won’t bring security and stability to the region.”

The Gaza operation began with the evacuation and demolition of a Palestinian police station. The army said one of the two militants who attacked Netzarim had taken shelter at the station. The other gunman was killed in the settlement raid.

Palestinian medics said one man was seriously wounded by gunfire laid down by troops advancing towards the three apartment blocks. Three people were lightly hurt by flying debris when the buildings were destroyed.

The buildings had been part of a project to relieve overcrowding in nearby Gaza City. But Palestinian officials said people had never moved in because of constant Israeli gunfire and tank shelling in the area.

Netzarim and other heavily-guarded settlements, built on land Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, have come under frequent attack during the uprising.

The army has faced international criticism in recent weeks for strikes against militants that have also killed civilians.—Reuters