Gaza Operation By Israel Leaves Many Homeless

[cthrumatrix]

Gaza Operation By Israel Leaves Many Homeless
Effort to Find Tunnels in Refugee Camp Is Called Most Destructive Incursion
By Molly Moore
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, October 15, 2003; Page A16


RAFAH REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip, Oct. 14 -- Salahuddin Street was a canyon of rubble Tuesday, the guts and souls of a dozen houses bulldozed into hills of splintered furniture, crushed concrete blocks and tattered clothing.

The ravaged street near the Gaza Strip's southern border with Egypt was just a snapshot of a broader swath of devastation: more than 230 homes razed, bulldozed or heavily damaged, according to international aid organizations that describe this as the Israeli military's most destructive incursion into Gaza since the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising three years ago.

Eight Palestinians, including two children, have been killed in the operation, which Israeli military officials say is aimed at destroying tunnels used to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt. Three tunnels have been discovered in the five-day operation, according to Israel's military commander in southern Gaza.

more

International human rights and aid organizations condemned Israel for the operation. "The repeated practice by the Israeli army of deliberate and wanton destruction of homes and civilian property . . . constitutes a war crime," Amnesty International said in a statement Tuesday.

snip

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26893-2003Oct14.html