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>By Phil Reeves in Salfit, West Bank >The Independent - London >12-15-1 > >The Israeli Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, says some of his >government's military strikes against the Palestinians make him >"shudder". > >Mr Peres would have had good reason to shudder yesterday, had he >listened to the testimonies of the residents of Salfit. They >described in detail how an Israeli undercover death squad arrived in >the West Bank town in a pre-dawn raid and shot two young policemen >at close range as they lay unarmed on the ground. > >The Israeli soldiers, dressed in black, spoke Arabic so fluently >that Iman Herzala - who heard them talking in the street outside her >house - at first wondered whether they were Palestinian forces >taking part in a training exercise. But that was before she saw the >executions, less than 100 yards from her front door. > >Residents had scraped earth over the spot, but yesterday afternoon >patches of blood were visible. A low wall bore the marks of several >bullets. > >Looking hollow-eyed and distressed, Mrs Herzala, 37, who has six >children, described the last moments of Dia Nabil Mahmoud, 19, and >Abdul Ashour, 22. > >They were among seven people to be killed by the Israelis yesterday >in raids on more than four communities in the occupied territories >as Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, increased his military >pressure on the Palestinians. At the same time, Israeli tanks and >bulldozers carried out their biggest housing demolition of the >intifada at Khan Younis in the Gaza strip, knocking down 35 houses >and making 345 people homeless. > >Mr Mahmoud - a member of Yasser Arafat's Force 17 security force - >and Mr Ashour, from Palestinian military intelligence, were shot in >the early stages of the Israeli raid in which tanks and bulldozers, >backed by helicopters, came thundering into the Palestinian-run town >of 10,000 near Nablus at around 2am. > >Mrs Herzala said: "The two boys came and knocked on my door, and >told me that the Israelis were invading the town. I opened the door >and asked them to come inside, but they refused and went on walking >up the street. The Israeli soldiers came up to them and asked them >to put down their weapons - they only had one - and put their hands >behind their backs. > >"They put down the gun. The Israelis asked them to lie on the >ground, which they did. Then they started shooting them with >machine-guns." > >She said she watched the scene - illuminated by the light of the >soldiers' torches - by peering out of her front door. At the same >time, Khadiji al-Fataj, 61, was looking down at the spot where the >execution took place from the window of her home, a few doors from >Mrs Herzala's. She said: "I heard soldiers asking the policemen to >stop and lie down. One was on one side of the road, and one on the >other. I saw them being shot." > >Yesterday afternoon, as the women told their stories, Mr Mahmoud's >father sat close by the spot, dazed and exhausted. "He was just a >child. If you look at his picture, you can see that," he said. > >The Israeli armed forces said the Salfit raid was in response to >"murderous terrorist attacks" in the area. > >The wording of their official explanation was suspiciously vague: >Israeli soldiers came on "armed Palestinians who came out of targets >for detention. They stormed the terrorists and killed them." > >Mr Sharon has moved military operations into a higher gear. >Yesterday's operations were aimed at Fatah, the mainstream >organisation headed by Yasser Arafat. The six people killed in >Salfit were all part of Mr Arafat's security apparatus. Three homes >were destroyed, all belonging to Fatah members. > >Mr Sharon is bludgeoning the rickety structure of the Palestinian >Authority, liquidating its police and attacking the middle-ground >pro-Arafat leadership. But there is dissent in the government ranks. > >Mr Peres told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that Mr >Sharon's decision to shun the Palestinian Authority was >short-sighted. Mr Peres reportedly said: "I asked him [Sharon], >'Suppose Arafat disappears, what will happen then?'" > >http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=110208 > > > > >MainPage >http://www.rense.com ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
