VARIOUS: FIERCE GUNBATTLES BETWEEN ISRAELI SOLDIERS AND PALESTINIAN GUNMEN SPILL OVER INTO JEWISH SETTLEMENT

Record ID: 377144

  • Title: VARIOUS: FIERCE GUNBATTLES BETWEEN ISRAELI SOLDIERS AND PALESTINIAN GUNMEN SPILL OVER INTO JEWISH SETTLEMENT
  • Date: 23rd October 2001
  • Summary: (U6) GILO, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 21, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. GV WEST BANK TOWN OF BEIT JALA, ON HILLSIDE OPPOSITE JEWISH SETTLEMENT OF GILO; LV PAN LIGHTS OF BEIT JALA, TRACER BULLETS AND FLASH OF EXPLOSION ON HILLSIDE AMONG BUILDINGS; FLARE LIGHTING UP SKY, VOLLEYS OF GUNFIRE IN BACKGROUND; AUDIO GUNFIRE, TWO EXPLOSIONS (4 SHOTS) 0.27 2. SLV ARMOURED PERS
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BETHLEHEM, RAMALLAH AND TULKARM, WEST BANK / JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA22GLIQQLEWFWNECYAKXTOUBRI
  • Story Text: Fierce gunbattles between Israeli soldiers and
    Palestinian gunmen have spilled over into the Jewish
    settlement of Gilo on the edge of Jerusalem after West Bank
    fighting claimed the lives of four Palestinians.

    The Palestinians were killed as Israeli tanks and troops
    continued to deploy in and around six West Bank cities in the
    wake of the assassination by radical Palestinian gunmen last
    Wednesday of a far-right Israeli cabinet minister.

    Israeli tanks and troops continued to deploy on Sunday
    (October 21, 2001) in and around six West Bank cities in the wake of
    the assassination by radical Palestinian gunmen last Wednesday
    (October 17) of a far-right Israeli cabinet minister.

    The ground offensive was Israel's largest military
    operation against the Palestinian Authority since interim
    peace accords were signed in 1993.

    Palestinian officials accused Israel of trying to topple
    the Palestinian Authority, but Israel's Prime Minister Ariel
    Sharon said the incursions would end only when Israel was
    satisfied Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was cracking
    down on terrorism.

    Israel says it is acting to stop Palestinian militants
    from reaching its cities and carrying out attacks.

    Despite its efforts to bolster Arab support for its
    anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan, the United States has
    refrained from making a direct appeal for an Israeli
    withdrawal -- an apparent sign of displeasure with Arafat.

    U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke by telephone
    with a series of key figures involved with the Middle East
    conflict on Sunday while at an Asia-Pacific forum in China.

    Powell discussed the Middle East with Arafat, Sharon,
    European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Egyptian
    Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Jordan's King Abdullah.

    The army has either taken over Palestinian-controlled
    territory, or tightened its stranglehold over a number of West
    Bank towns and cities, including Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jenin
    and Beit Jala in retaliation for Tourist Minister Rehavam
    Zeevi's assassination.

    On Saturday (October 20), Israeli troops and armour
    encircled the West Bank cities of Tulkarm and Qalqilya.

    In Bethlehem, a Palestinian civilian and a police officer
    were killed and at least six others were hurt during gun
    battles. A Palestinian man was shot dead in nearby Beit Jala
    and a Palestinian woman was killed outside Jenin.

    Earlier, Pope John Paul II appealed for the sides to end
    the fighting in Bethlehem.

    Israel has demanded the Authority hand over those involved
    in Zeevi's killing, that it outlaw groups it defines as
    terrorist and that it arrest militants on a most-wanted list.

    The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
    says its gunmen had killed the hardline Israeli cabinet
    minister Rehavam Zeevi to avenge the Israeli assassination of
    its leader, Abu Ali Mustafa, in August.

    At least 650 Palestinians and 177 Israelis have been
    killed since the uprising erupted in September 2000 after
    peace talks failed.

    In Bethlehem, a Palestinian civilian and a police officer
    were killed and at least six others were hurt during gun
    battles. A Palestinian man was shot dead in nearby Beit Jala
    and a Palestinian woman was killed outside Jenin.

    And two Palestinians were wounded in fighting that erupted
    north of Qalqilya, a West Bank city that Israeli forces had
    raided a day earlier.

    Israeli troops held on to positions around six Palestinian
    cities in their widest ground offensive on Palestinian areas
    in a year of violence.

    They had pushed several hundred metres (yards) into the
    West Bank cities of Tulkarm and Qalqilya on Saturday, the day
    on which eight Palestinians were killed in fierce battles
    throughout the West Bank.

    The Israeli raids on Tulkarm and Qualqilya followed
    similar moves into Ramallah and Jenin.

    And Israeli troops have strengthened their hold on
    Bethlehem, revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus,
    and nearby Beit Jala.

    Israeli officials have stressed the army's entry into the
    Palestinian-ruled areas did not signal the imminent demise of
    the Palestinian Authority. Israel says the incursions are to
    apprehend Palestinian militants planning attacks on Israelis.

    Danny Ayalon, advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
    Sharon, said: "We demanded that they would stop the terror,
    would arrest the terrorists and do all the preventions
    possible. If they don't do it, we will have to do it. We don't
    want to do it, we have no ambitions to any Palestinian
    territories, we would like to get out of there as soon as
    possible. With their help, of course, it could make the
    process shorter and they should live up to their commitment."

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