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Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 19, 2004

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International

Israel launches fresh offensive in Gaza

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, MAY 18. Israeli armed forces have launched a fresh military offensive in the Rafah area along Gaza's border with Egypt, triggering an international outcry after several Palestinian homes were demolished over the week and panic-stricken people took refuge in emergency shelters.

At least 15 people have been killed in Israeli missile attacks in the early hours today, Palestinian sources said. Thousands of panic-stricken people fled their homes after Israeli tanks and bulldozers, used for demolishing houses, surfaced in the Palestinian refugee camp in Rafah. Their departure has crowded a nearby area where 400 tents have been pitched to accommodate the displaced.

The Israeli Defence Minister, Shaul Mofaz, said that the on-going Israeli operation would continue as long as necessary. The exodus of people has been triggered by fears that Israelis are expanding their drive to demolish residential buildings that began a week ago, after Palestinian militants killed 13 soldiers. An estimated 130 houses have been destroyed so far.

The United Nations Security Council was slated to convene on Tuesday to discuss an Arab request for a debate on the destruction of Palestinian homes. The Arab League was also due to meet to take stock of the Israeli military operation.

Israeli soldiers said that demolitions had become necessary in order to fortify the Rafah border enclave with Egypt, where tunnels have been dug in to supply Palestinian militants with weapons. Analysts point out that Israel, through its incursion, has been wanting to `secure' a corridor, bordering Egypt, after it is widened by another 800 metres. The Israeli intention, if implemented, will result in an even larger destruction of buildings that exist in this zone. Countering the Israeli view that its incursion has been dictated by security considerations, Palestinians and U.N. personnel have said that Israel is subjecting residents to "collective punishment".

The U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has called for an end to Israeli `destruction', which he said was against "international humanitarian law." The human rights group Amnesty International in a report has accused Israel of demolishing more than 3,000 homes in the last few years, making thousands of Palestinians homeless. The organisation claims that destruction of some of the houses carried out by Israel imply grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and are war crimes. Donatella Rovera, from Amnesty's West Asia programme was quoted as saying that most demolitions were "unnecessary, disproportionate, unjustified, and deliberate."

The Palestinian Cabinet has described the destruction of homes as part of an Israeli design to carry out "ethnic cleansing."

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