VARIOUS: FIERCE GUNBATTLES ERUPT BETWEEN PALESTINIAN GUNMEN AND ISRAELI SOLDIERS/FUNERALS HELD FOR VICTIMS

Record ID: 377094

  • Title: VARIOUS: FIERCE GUNBATTLES ERUPT BETWEEN PALESTINIAN GUNMEN AND ISRAELI SOLDIERS/FUNERALS HELD FOR VICTIMS
  • Date: 25th October 2001
  • Summary: (W5) BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 24, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. SLV ISRAELI ARMOURED VEHICLES ON STREET IN PALESTINIAN-RULED CITY OF BETHLEHEM / SOUND OF GUNFIRE IN BACKGROUND/ SMOKE WAFTING OVER ARMOURED VEHICLES; MAN RUNS FOR COVER ACROSS ROAD (3 SHOTS) 0.18 2. SLV PALESTINIAN GUNMEN, KNEELING AND STANDING, FIRING DOWN STREET 0.24 3. SLV BURST
  • Embargoed: 9th November 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BETHLEHEM, GILO, HEBRON AND TULKARM, WEST BANK / JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA3Y0KDBLGLS6FD890QSQ2ZSE6
  • Story Text: Fierce gunbattles have erupted between Palestinian
    gunmen and Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian-ruled town of
    Bethlehem after an Israeli incursion into the area six days ago.

    Beit Reema and Tulkarm have also become scenes of unrest
    between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops as Israel
    continued to maintain a new military occupation of key West
    Bank cities.

    In Tulkarm, Palestinian mourners attended the funeral of
    four men killed a day earlier in an attack by Israeli special
    forces.

    With black-checked keffiyahs wrapped around their faces
    and machine-guns blasting, Palestinian gunmen fought Israeli
    tanks in the streets of Bethlehem and adjacent towns on
    Wednesday (October 24).

    In the narrow alleys of the Aza refugee camp inside
    Bethlehem, the walls of homes and shops melted like butter
    under the gunfire from Israeli tanks.

    Israeli troops invaded Palestinian-ruled territory after
    Palestinian radicals shot dead an Israeli minister last week
    in retaliation for Israel's killing of their leader in August.

    In the impoverished camp, gunmen pressed against the
    passageways and scurried to change positions through holes in
    the walls as an Israeli tank pounded the camp from its
    entrance.

    Palestinians had set fire to the Paradise Hotel across the
    road, which Israeli soldiers had occupied and where they are
    believed to be holed up. Gunfire sprayed from the hotel.

    As flames licked higher over the Paradise Hotel, Israeli
    tanks and an armoured car advanced along Nativity Road, about
    one km (less than a mile) from the Church of the Nativity and
    Bethlehem's Manger Square, revered as the birthplace of Jesus.

    Bullets flew in all directions, smacking into doorways
    where residents were taking cover, sending up showers of
    cement dust.

    One death was reported in Wednesday's shooting -- a
    Palestinian motorist who ambulance workers said had been shot
    by Israeli soldiers near an army position at Bethlehem's
    Rachel's Tomb. Eight Palestinians were wounded by bullets or
    shrapnel.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has reiterated that
    Israel has no intention of remaining permanently in
    Palestinian-ruled areas, but Israeli troops moved into another
    West Bank village near Ramallah early on Wednesday in an
    operation in which at least six Palestinians were killed.

    Israel launched the operation in Beit Reema hours after
    U.S. President George W. Bush asked it to remove its forces
    from the Palestinian-ruled territories.

    Israel Radio, quoting Israeli security sources, said 10
    Palestinians had been killed in the incursion into Beit Reema
    village.

    Palestinian doctors quoted witnesses in the village as
    saying by telephone that they had seen seven bodies.

    Palestinian witnesses said the army opened fire without
    provocation.

    The Israeli army had no immediate comment on casualties.

    Israeli military officials said forces had met
    unprecedented opposition when they entered the village under
    cover of darkness.

    The army prevented journalists from entering the village,
    which was declared a closed military zone.

    A representative from the International Committee of the
    Red Cross (ICRC) was also prevented from entering the area.

    "No way to have access inside, not even for the Red Cross
    car. And usually we have access to all places," she said.

    Israeli government spokesman Raanan Gissin said Israeli
    troops had raided the village on a manhunt for Palestinians he
    said were involved in attacks on Israelis.

    "We have no intention of harming the civilian population
    in that village. As a matter of fact we had no intention of
    going in Beit Reema. But the Palestinian Authority and the
    lack of any
    action taken by them left us with no choice but to take the
    necessary action to bring to justice those who committed that
    crime and those who committed other crimes," said Gissin.

    "Two people were killed in the past year: one, an Israeli
    minister, another an Israeli soldier and 15 men, women and
    children were wounded as a result of shooting that occurred on
    the roads in the area of Ramallah coming from this village,"
    he added.

    In the West Bank city of Tulkarm, five Palestinians were
    killed late on Tuesday (October 23) in what Palestinian
    security officials called an attack by Israeli special forces.

    On Wednesday, residents of Tulkarm faced with damaged
    buildings and piles of rubble, attended the funeral of four
    men killed in the attack.
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