Israeli forces demolish 18 Palestinian homes; 44 families homeless

[Resistance]

Rafah: Israeli forces demolish 18 Palestinian homes, leaving 44 families homeless
Report, PCHR, 1 October 2003

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2013.shtml

This morning, Wednesday, October 1, 2003, Israeli occupying forces demolished 18 houses in Block L of the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip. The demolition operation took place under intense shelling and indiscriminate shooting within the camp and was followed by further shelling as Israeli forces withdrew.

The operation left 270 Palestinian, mostly children, homeless, adding to the thousands of other Palestinian civilians made homeless in similar Israeli military operations throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Since the beginning of Al Aqsa Intifada (September 2000), Israeli occupying forces have demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes in Rafah in similar operations, justified by Israeli authorities for ‘security’ reasons. However, the facts on the ground prove that these demolitions represent a strategic policy to clear a large area of Palestinian land near the border with Egypt to facilitate a wide buffer zone to increase Israeli military control in the area. Israeli forces have begun construction of a concrete and metal wall parallel to the border with Egypt on land cleared of Palestinian homes in similar demolition operations.