Israel winds down long Gaza offensive

Israeli border policemen arrest a Palestinian man who was trying to cross from the West Bank town of Bethlehem to Jerusalem to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosques compound in Jerusalem yesterday on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Three more Palestinians were killed yesterday even as Israel scaled down its massive offensive in northern Gaza and deployed hundreds of police reinforcements in Jerusalem for fear of violence there at the start of Ramadan. PHOTO: AFP

Sharon's decision came just hours after he told legislators Thursday that "Operation Days of Penitence," meant to stop Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli communities, would continue and even be expanded.

The prime minister's apparent zigzag reflected his dilemma. Continued Palestinian rocket attacks have undermined support for his planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, while a major military offensive invites international criticism because of heavy Palestinian casualties and isn't entirely effective.

Since the Sept. 29 start of the Israeli campaign, triggered by a deadly rocket attack on the Israeli border town of Sheroot, 108 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded. Among the dead were dozens of civilians, including 18 children.

Israeli tanks and bulldozers have left behind a wide swath of destruction in northern Gaza, damaging houses, tearing up water pipes and knocking down electricity poles as they charge through narrow alleys of densely populated areas.

In an 18-page report obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, the United Nations wrote that Israel has engaged in "massive and wanton destruction of property" in Gaza. The report, written before the current Gaza operation, said that while some of Israel's actions can be explained by security concerns, many cannot.

The Israeli government said the report, to be presented to the UN General Assembly later this month, does not address the actions of Palestinian militants, including smuggling weapons into Gaza and sending suicide bombers into Israel.

In Washington, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Thursday that the United States hopes that Israel can end the Gaza operation "as soon as possible." He said that while the United States recognises Israel's right to self-defence, "they should do it in a manner that concludes as quickly as possible and that minimises any loss of civilian life or humanitarian consequences."

Yesterday two more Palestinian militants who were wounded in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip have died of their wounds, medical sources said.

Raed Abu Seif, from the radical Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Wael Saleh, a fighter from the Islamist movement Hamas, both sustained the fatal injuries when an Israeli helicopter opened fire at the Jabaliya refugee camp, the main focus of a massive operation in the area which has left 127 Palestinians dead.

Amin Massud, who was also an Al-Aqsa Brigades activist, was also killed immediately in the pre-dawn strike.