THE MIDDLE EAST: Israel's Defence Minister, Mr Shaul Mofaz, told the cabinet yesterday that the military planned to "deepen" strikes in the Gaza Strip, while the army chief threatened that many Palestinian homes were facing demolition. The High Court had essentially cleared the way for the bulldozing of homes in a flashpoint corridor along the Gaza border with Egypt.
There were reports last night that dozens of Palestinians had begun to leave their homes in the southern Gaza refugee camp of Rafah after hearing of the court decision. The three-judge panel, which rejected a petition against the demolition of 13 homes in Rafah, said the army could carry out demolitions to protect soldiers and for "operational needs."
The army demolished 88 homes in Rafah on Friday, leaving about 1,000 people homeless according to the UN Relief and Works Agency. The army said it had destroyed 30 to 40 homes in the last few days. The demolitions followed the deaths of five Israeli soldiers who were killed when their armoured personnel carrier was hit in the Rafah area last week. Two more soldiers were killed on Friday in a search for their comrades' remains. Six soldiers were also killed last week in another attack on an APC, in Gaza City. At least 29 Palestinians have been killed in fighting in the Strip in the last week.
"Hundreds of Palestinian houses along the Israel-Egypt border have been targeted for demolition," army chief Lieut Gen Moshe Ya'alon was quoted as telling ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting. The army's aim is to widen the narrow corridor Israel controls between Gaza and the Egyptian border, which the military calls the Philadelphi Route. The area has been a major point of friction since the start of hositilites in September 2000, with militants digging tunnels from Gaza to Egypt to smuggle weapons into the Strip.
The Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, had said he planned to hold on to the corridor as part of his Gaza withdrawal plan, which was defeated in a referendum in his Likud party earlier this month. The Palestinian Prime Minister, Mr Ahmed Qurei, said Israel's High Court was allowing "ethnic cleansing crimes and collective punishment of innocent civilians".
US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell also criticised the demolitions: "We know Israel has a right for self-defence, but the kind of actions that they're taking in Rafah with the destruction of Palestinian homes, we oppose," he said at the World Economic Forum he is attending in Jordan.
Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians as they tried to cross the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip yesterday evening, Israel Radio reported. The report indicated the Palestinians were armed and were trying to cross the border unobserved near the community of Nahal Oz in Israel when they were killed.