GAZA CITY / KHAN YOUNIS: Palestinian gunmen storm British Council and European Union offices in Gaza and kidnap at least seven foreigners in response to Israel attacking jail where senior militant was held

Record ID: 837594

  • Title: GAZA CITY / KHAN YOUNIS: Palestinian gunmen storm British Council and European Union offices in Gaza and kidnap at least seven foreigners in response to Israel attacking jail where senior militant was held
  • Date: 15th March 2006
  • Summary: MILITANTS IN FRONT OF BURNING BUILDING CLOSE UP OF BURNING BUILDING PULL OUT
  • Embargoed: 30th March 2006 13:00
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  • Topics: War / Fighting,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAB82XDPJ4BUKMWEPXBA2ACVWZ0
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Palestinian militants set fire to the British Council offices and those of the EU in Gaza on Tuesday (March 14). They also kidnapped at least seven foreigners, later releasing four, in response to Israeli forces storming a jail where a senior militant was being held.
    One gunman was killed in a confrontation with Palestinian police in clashes at Jericho prison, housing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmed Saadat and five other senior militants held under foreign supervision.
    Militants and Palestinian police earlier exchanged gunfire outside the British Council offices, a cultural centre in Gaza.
    They also forced their way into the European Union compound in Gaza on Tuesday, smashing windows and causing other damage, witnesses said.
    The clashes erupted out of anger after Israeli forces, backed by tanks and armoured jeeps, surrounded a prison in Jericho taking over the compound.
    Israeli soldiers blew up the outer wall of the prison compound, then brought up bulldozers. Through loudhailers, troops demanded that the militants turn themselves in.
    Dozens of police left the prison with their hands in the air. Israeli troops took aside prisoners, some who had stripped down to their underwear. It was unclear whether Saadat or the other militants were among those who gave themselves up.
    The militants were furious that U.S. and British monitors left the jail before the raid. The UN Security Council scheduled consultations later on Tuesday on the prison raid at the request of Qatar, the council's sole Arab member.
    More than two dozen foreign aid workers and journalists took refuge in the compound of the Palestinian Preventive Security agency in the Gaza Strip as gunmen angered by the Israeli raid scoured the territory for foreigners.
    The violence stoked tension two weeks ahead of an Israeli general election and as Hamas Islamists continued talks on forming a new Palestinian government following their victory in a January parliamentary vote.
    Protests erupted in towns across the West Bank and Gaza Strip and armed groups threatened to kidnap and possibly kill Americans and Britons. Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip said they had foiled one attempt to kidnap an American.
    Israeli police minister Gideon Ezra said the decision to demand the handover of Saadat and the others was taken because of reports that they could be released -- a possibility raised by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week.
    Abbas said last week that he was prepared to free Saadat, drawing an angry response from Israel. Last year Abbas said he planned to release Saadat but he did not. Abbas told reporters that he holds the US and British government responsible for what happens at Jericho prison.
    The Palestinian Authority condemned the raid and the withdrawal of the U.S. and British monitors.
    "The moment that our Palestinian people are setting a great example in their firmness the Israeli enemies surprises us with a new combat that hits the wall with all its prior agreements to the Palestinian Authority. Where its (Israeli) forces captivated the city of Jericho and captive its prison, which imprisoned in it the fighter Ahmad Saadat member of the Palestinian legislative council and the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine," PLC Speaker in Gaza Ahmed Bahar said.
    U.S. and British officials said the monitors were pulled out because of the failure of the Palestinians to carry out security improvements that they had requested.
    Militants also attacked the offices of the European Union. Masked men holding rifles and waving flags climbed over the perimeter wall and scaled the building, flying a red flag from the flagpole.
    Two French nationals working for the private relief group Medecins du Monde and a South Korean were still being held.
    The French Foreign Ministry said the two French citizens work for Medecins du Monde, a non-governmental agency.
    "Our consulate in Jerusalem has been working to obtain their liberation since finding out about it. We are in contact with representatives of the Palestinian Authority and of course with Medecins du Monde in Jerusalem as well as in Paris," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement.
    The French nationals and the South Korean were later put on display for the media in the building where they are being held captive in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
    Gunmen holding them set conditions for their release. One said that he was from the militant wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
    "We will be targeting all the foreigners in this country so that we can have a victorious response towards Jericho. And on this, we give a chance to all the countries that have people and the captives so that it will put the right pressure on Britain, America, and Israel in order to remove the uncertainty towards our colleague Ahmed Saadat. And on this, we give them a deadline so they can do the right work, or we will, at the military wing of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) punish them and chase down the all the ones who exist in the country - from foreigners and others that will be targeted," one of the hostage-takers said.
    Two Australians, an American and a Swiss employee of the International Committee of the Red Cross were also kidnapped but later released unharmed by their abductors.
    A gunman was killed in a confrontation with Palestinian police outside Gaza's Dira hotel, where the two French nationals and the South Korean were seized, medics said.
    Palestinian security sources and witnesses said the militants involved in the kidnappings belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
    Israeli forces blasted their way into a prison in the West Bank town of Jericho to try to seize PFLP leader Ahmed Saadat and five other militants from the group. After a daylong siege, the six surrendered.
    The men, accused by Israel of involvement in the killing an Israeli cabinet minister in 2001, have been held under foreign supervision at the facility for the past four years.
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