VARIOUS: WEST BANK HOME OF PALESTINIAN MILITANT DESTROYED BY ISRAELI ARMY/ FOUR ISRAELI STUDENTS KILLED IN JEWISH SETTLEMENT
Record ID:
645853
VARIOUS: WEST BANK HOME OF PALESTINIAN MILITANT DESTROYED BY ISRAELI ARMY/ FOUR ISRAELI STUDENTS KILLED IN JEWISH SETTLEMENT
- Title: VARIOUS: WEST BANK HOME OF PALESTINIAN MILITANT DESTROYED BY ISRAELI ARMY/ FOUR ISRAELI STUDENTS KILLED IN JEWISH SETTLEMENT
- Date: 27th December 2002
- Summary: (U3) HEBRON, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 28, 2002) (REUTERS) WIDE OF HOUSE / HOUSE EXPLODING/ CLOUDS OF SMOKE (3 SHOTS) SLV ISRAELI SOLDIERS SHOOTING, TAKING COVER BEHIND WALL WIDE/ PAN PALESTINIANS LYING ON ROOFTOP / PAN TO ISRAELI SOLDIERS SHOOTING (3 SHOTS) WIDE VIEW CROWD OF PALESTINIANS GATHERED NEARBY SLV YOUNG GIRL AMONGST THE PALESTINIANS STANDING NEARBY LV ISRAELI SOLDIERS INSPECTING THE DAMAGE WIDE OF THE SCENE (U7) OTNIEL JEWISH SETTLEMENT, NEAR HEBRON, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 27, 2002) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SCENES) WIDE OF ARMY JEEPS PATROLLING OTNIEL SETTLEMENT SLV AMBULANCES DRIVING TO AND FROM THE SETTLEMENT
- Embargoed: 11th January 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: HEBRON, OTNIEL JEWISH SETTLEMENT,
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVA53VFXCV394288M8H1GIP1DT57
- Story Text: Israeli troops have imposed a siege around Bethlehem university, firing tear gas and stun grenades at stone-throwing students.
Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat has condemned what he called Israeli military escalation, after Israel destroyed the home of a Palestinian militant in the West Bank city of Hebron following the killing of four rabbinical students at a Jewish settlement.
Clashes erupted in the vicinity of Bethlehem university on Saturday (December 28).
Israeli troops in the area laid siege to the university, and were trying to get inside.
Students sought shelter inside the building, while others inside and outside the university threw stones at the soldiers.
No injuries were reported.
After the weekly meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Senior Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat commented on the latest violence.
"The Israeli government's military escalation in the West Bank and Gaza -- which culminated in the killing of nine Palestinians in the last 24 hours -- we believe that this attempt of escalation is an attempt to sabotage the Egyptian efforts being exerted with all Palestinian political parties and factions to reach a cease fire".
In the West Bank, the home of a Palestinian militant was destroyed by Israeli soldiers in an explosion on Saturday (December 28) morning.
A crowd of Palestinians watched the scene as soldiers fired towards the rubble.
Several Palestinians took cover by lying on the rooftop of a nearby home.
The army said the home was that of an Islamic Jihad activist.
Palestinian witnesses said the house belonged to a member of the Al Aqsa Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.
The witnesses said troops were preparing to destroy a second house, owned by an Islamic Jihad militant.
Palestinians and human rights groups denounce house demolitions as collective punishment.
Israel says they are necessary to deter suicide attacks.
The demolition of the Palestinian home in Hebron followed the killing of four rabbinical students at a Jewish settlement by Palestinian gunmen on Friday (December 27) evening.
Israeli troops shot and killed the gunmen who had entered the rabbinical college's dining hall in the Jewish settlement of Otniel and opened fire on students as they prepared for their Friday night Sabbath meal.
The militant Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility for the Otniel shooting near Hebron, saying it was carried out to avenge Israel's killing of eight Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Wednesday (December 25) and Thursday (December 26).
Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks that have killed scores of Israelis since the start of the Palestinian uprising for independence, which began in September 2000 after peace talks stalled. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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