Israeli withdrawing from parts of Rafah camp, but offensive to continue

Tuesday, May 18th 2004, 6:09 am

By: News On 6

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Israeli troops pulled back from two neighborhoods in this sprawling Palestinian refugee camp Friday, leaving behind a bleak landscape of demolished and damaged homes, torn-up roads and flattened cars.

Israel said its four-day military offensive in search of arms-smuggling tunnels and militants will continue. The army said no tunnels have been found so far and only one Palestinian was arrested after soldiers questioned hundreds. Security officials believed most of the militants fled before the invasion.

Municipal officials said at least 43 homes were demolished and dozens more damaged in the camp since the offensive began Tuesday. Forty Palestinians have been killed, including gunmen and eight demonstrators hit by a tank shell.

The army said it deliberately demolished seven homes, including one belonging to an Islamic Jihad militant. Other damage to homes and roads was caused by heavy military vehicles and Palestinian militant roadside bombs, the army said.

In the Brazil neighborhood, 25 houses were razed and streets were torn up, local officials said. In many cases, the facades of houses caved in or were shorn off, apparently damage from wide armored vehicles moving through the narrow alleys.

Residents rummaged through the rubble, retrieving mattresses, photo albums, shoes and clothing. A boy, oblivious to his surroundings, sat on the ground and scooped up sand with a broken toy bulldozer.

Israeli troops left behind leaflets in Arabic urging residents not to give shelter to armed men ``who are using your homes and are hiding inside like rats.''

Yacoub Othman, 55, a resident of the Brazil neighborhood, said he was hit by random fire in the leg as he walked down the stairs in his home Wednesday, but couldn't get medical help.

``I tried to sterilize the wound with the little alcohol we had at home, but I couldn't even open the window and call on my neighbor to call for an ambulance because the snipers were right in front of us and the bulldozer was working in the street in front of us,'' said Othman. Doctors said Othman's wound became infected.

On Friday, reporters were still unable to get into the hardest-hit neighborhood, Tel Sultan, which is home to 25,000 people. Local officials said 10 homes were demolished there, and more were damaged. Resident Fathi Abdel-Al, speaking by telephone, described a scene of smoldering and charred cars, toppled electricity poles and sewage running in the streets.

Abdel Rahim Abu Jazer, 42, a teacher, searched for food and water for his children ``I hardly recognized my own street,'' he said. ``I don't think an earthquake could do what the Israeli army did to this area.''

In Tel Sultan, residents lost water and electricity during part of the Israeli offensive. Doctors said relief convoys were still unable to enter sections of the camp.

Israeli security officials said the offensive is not over. A key objective remains the widening of an Israeli patrol road between Rafah and the Egyptian border, which would make it more difficult for weapons smugglers to dig tunnels.

Widening the road would also require the demolition of dozens of Palestinian homes, a security official said on condition of anonymity. Palestinian officials estimate that hundreds of houses would be razed if the road is widened.

Israel's vice premier, Ehud Olmert, assured Secretary of State Colin Powell in a meeting in Washington earlier this week that the buffer zone would not be widened, U.S. officials said. However, Israeli security officials said Friday the army is still pushing for an expansion of the zone by at least yards.

Israeli Attorney General Meni Mazuz instructed the army on Thursday to come up with alternatives that cause less destruction. Israel launched ``Operation Rainbow'' on Tuesday, less than a week after 13 soldiers were killed by militants in the Gaza Strip.

The United States, European Union and United Nations have criticized the operation, calling for a halt to home demolitions. U.S. criticism was unusually sharp, and in a rare move the administration allowed the passage of a stinging U.N. resolution condemning the operation.

During more than three years of Palestinian-Israeli violence, Israeli forces have made dozens of forays into the Rafah camp to destroy weapons-smuggling tunnels. The Israeli military said 90 have been found and destroyed. More than 11,000 Rafah residents have been left homeless by Israeli demolitions since 2000.

Israel charges that Palestinian militants have weapons stockpiled in the Egyptian Sinai desert across from Gaza, waiting to be smuggled in. Egypt has denied the charges.

Meanwhile, an Israeli court on Thursday convicted Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti of ordering shooting attacks that killed four Israelis and a Greek monk. The prosecution said it would ask for consecutive life sentences.

Barghouti, considered a possible successor to Yasser Arafat, is the highest-ranking Palestinian leader in Israeli custody. Barghouti said he does not recognize the right of the Israeli court to judge him. Sentencing is set for June 6.