MIDDLE EAST: Israeli troops killed 15 Palestinians and wounded over 70 in a raid in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza, just a day before a historic vote in parliament on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw unilaterally from the Gaza Strip and a small part of the West Bank, writes Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem
Israeli tanks and troops, backed by helicopter gunships, moved into Khan Younis in the early hours of yesterday morning in what the army said was an operation aimed at stopping the firing of makeshift mortars into Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Militants fired a barrage of mortars over the weekend after Israel assassinated a leading Hamas militant in the Strip on Thursday night. Among the dead yesterday were an 11-year-old boy and three Palestinian policemen.
The foray into southern Gaza follows a much more expansive operation earlier this month in the northern part of the Strip that left over 100 Palestinians dead. Violence in Gaza has escalated in recent weeks, with Palestinian militants keen to portray any future Israeli withdrawal as their victory. The Israeli army has responded harshly, hoping to refute the claim it is withdrawing under fire.
Opening a parliamentary debate on the withdrawal just hours after the raid, Mr Sharon said his plan to evacuate the 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank would "strengthen Israel", and that despite strong opposition he was determined to proceed.
The architect of many of the settlements, Mr Sharon said his decision now to dismantle them was the most difficult he had made "in all my life as a fighter and commander, a politician, a Knesset member, a government minister and as Prime Minister".
But Mr Sharon, who faced incessant heckling from right-wing politicians who oppose his plan, also attacked his one-time allies - the settlers - saying their "one weakness" was that a "messianic complex has evolved among you". Adopting the language of the Israeli left, the former general said he had learned "from experience that one cannot be victorious by the sword alone. We don't want to rule over millions of Palestinians, whose population is doubling every generation.
"Israel wishes to be a democracy and cannot do it. The disengagement is a gateway to another reality."
The Israeli leader is expected to win the vote in parliament, but that does not guarantee that his plan, which he hopes to implement by the end of next year, will be carried out.
Mr Sharon is facing growing demands, from inside his ruling Likud Party as well, to agree to a national referendum on withdrawal. So far he has rejected the calls, but if he continues to do so he could face open mutiny in the Likud - possibly led by his main rival, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - and could lose another of his far-right coalition partners who strongly opposes uprooting any Jewish settlements. This could precipitate early elections.
Mr Sharon and his supporters believe that those backing a referendum see it as a way of delaying his withdrawal plan. Some close to the Prime Minister fear he may even lose a referendum, despite strong public backing for his plan in opinion surveys.
Palestinians fear that Mr Sharon intends pulling out of Gaza as part of his attempt to strengthen Israel's hold over vast swathes of the West Bank. But yesterday Mr Sharon told lawmakers that his plan was not a substitute for negotiations. "It is a necessary step during a period in which negotiations are not possible. All is open when terror - this murderous terror - stops."
In an ironic twist, several thousand left-wing demonstrators, who for years have loathed Mr Sharon for his hardline policies, gathered outside parliament last night to express support for him. Tens of thousands of right-wing demonstrators who oppose leaving Gaza are expected to descend today on parliament.
Security has been beefed up, with hundreds of policemen deployed around parliament amid fears that right-wing extremists might try to strike at Mr Sharon or other leaders supporting his plan. The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Mr Shimon Peres, addressed demonstrators at the left-wing rally last night from behind a bullet-proof glass shield.