Israeli fighting on two fronts in Gaza

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip – Israeli troops moved into this town in northern Gaza yesterday, killing at least seven Palestinians, including the local commander of the Hamas militant group.

It was the deadliest violence in Beit Hanoun since the army invaded the area early last week in an effort to prevent militants from firing homemade rockets into Israel. Snipers took up positions on rooftops, shooting armed men and other suspicious figures, while helicopter machine-guns fired down from time to time.Palestinian gunmen took to the streets to fight the troops.The army said it had entered the centre of Beit Hanoun because rockets had been fired from the area.Armoured Israeli bulldozers also destroyed dozens of olive and orange trees and razed land along the eastern side of Beit Hanoun.Palestinian witnesses reported that there were dead and wounded lying in the streets of Beit Hanoun, but they could not be evacuated due to the fierce fighting.”We are in a real battlefield.Shooting is coming from all directions and I saw two people fall wounded in front of my house,” said Ramadan Zaneen, 42, a farmer.The army raided Beit Hanoun last week after militants fired a barrage of homemade rockets at the Israeli border town of Sderot, killing two people, including a three-year-old boy.The new rockets – modified to be more deadly – could threaten prime minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from Gaza.Hard-line critics say an evacuation of the coastal area would put more Israeli population centres in range of the inaccurate, but deadly, rockets.Sharon has refused to talk with the Palestinians as he prepares the Gaza pullout.Instead, he has asked Egypt, which borders Gaza, to help retrain Palestinian security forces and to ensure calm.A diplomatic source expressed surprise at the Israeli snub.He said the EU has held a series of “very constructive” meetings with Israel on the Gaza plan.The quartet envoys met Wednesday with Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qureia in the West Bank city of Ramallah.”If it is true that Israeli officials would not meet with the quartet, it means that Israel is turning its back to the entire world,” Qureia said.- Nampa-APSnipers took up positions on rooftops, shooting armed men and other suspicious figures, while helicopter machine-guns fired down from time to time.Palestinian gunmen took to the streets to fight the troops.The army said it had entered the centre of Beit Hanoun because rockets had been fired from the area.Armoured Israeli bulldozers also destroyed dozens of olive and orange trees and razed land along the eastern side of Beit Hanoun.Palestinian witnesses reported that there were dead and wounded lying in the streets of Beit Hanoun, but they could not be evacuated due to the fierce fighting.”We are in a real battlefield.Shooting is coming from all directions and I saw two people fall wounded in front of my house,” said Ramadan Zaneen, 42, a farmer.The army raided Beit Hanoun last week after militants fired a barrage of homemade rockets at the Israeli border town of Sderot, killing two people, including a three-year-old boy.The new rockets – modified to be more deadly – could threaten prime minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from Gaza.Hard-line critics say an evacuation of the coastal area would put more Israeli population centres in range of the inaccurate, but deadly, rockets.Sharon has refused to talk with the Palestinians as he prepares the Gaza pullout.Instead, he has asked Egypt, which borders Gaza, to help retrain Palestinian security forces and to ensure calm.A diplomatic source expressed surprise at the Israeli snub.He said the EU has held a series of “very constructive” meetings with Israel on the Gaza plan.The quartet envoys met Wednesday with Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qureia in the West Bank city of Ramallah.”If it is true that Israeli officials would not meet with the quartet, it means that Israel is turning its back to the entire world,” Qureia said.- Nampa-AP