IOF
Kill 3 Palestinians in Rafah, Khan Younis
Palestine Media Center
12 May, 2003
A day after US Secretary
of State Colin Powells visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian
territory, the Israeli government re-imposed a tight closure on the
Gaza Strip at a time when three Palestinians were killed by Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) in the past twenty-four hours.
This renewed bloodshed and
siege of Palestinian cities and towns comes a day after Israel claimed
it was easing stringent restrictions it has been imposing on Palestinians
since the Intifada for independence erupted some 31 months ago.
After Sundays separate
talks with the new Palestinian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas, and the
Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, Powell urged the two sides to
implement the US-proposed roadmap for peace and resolve
their differences.
Powell also said he underscored
to [Israeli] Prime Minister Sharon and his government the need for Israel
to do its part in improving the daily lives of Palestinians.
Later, Israel announced a
lift to the closure imposed on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However,
the Israeli humanitarian gesture lasted only for few hours.
After Powell left, Israel
sealed off the Gaza Strip completely and imposed a curfew on the areas
controlled by its IOF army.
The Israeli occupation army
justified the move as a precautionary step after receiving information
that Palestinians are planning new attacks on Israel from inside Gaza.
Curfews, Killings a Day
After Powells Visit
Powells long waited
visit did not seem to have affected the ongoing bloodshed in the occupied
territory as three Palestinians were killed, two during an IOF invasion
of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.
According to Palestinian
medical sources, Mohammed Abu Armanah, 19, and Saleem al-Arja, 20, were
killed by IOF troops, in a raid on al-Salam and al-Brazil neighborhoods
in Rafah.
Medical sources said al-Arja
bled to death since ambulances were prevented by intensive IOF fire
from reaching him.
IOF also demolished five
Palestinians houses in al-Salam and al-Brazil neighborhoods, witnesses
said.
IOF Kill Farmer in His
Field
Meanwhile, a Palestinian
farmer was killed by Israeli occupation soldiers in the southern Gaza
Strip town of Khan Younis.
The victim, Hasan al-Astal,
18, was shot dead by IOF soldiers while working in his familys
field, witnesses said.
His cousin Ahmad was also
shot and wounded while trying to rescue him, witnesses added.
IOF also invaded the northern
West Bank town of Qaqlilia and imposed a curfew on its neighborhoods.
IOF soldiers broke into a
number of citizens houses, specifically those located in the towns
center, witnesses said.
Also in the West Bank, IOF
detained two brothers after raiding their familys house in the
southern town of Beit Jala, Palestinian sources said.
The detainees were identified
as Mahmoud and Taher Alan, both in their mid twenties.
In Ramallah, IOF imposed
curfew on the town of Beitonia after four Palestinian detainees escaped
the nearby Israeli detention camp of Ofra.
Several Israeli military
jeeps and armored vehicles patrolled Ramallah city while IOF soldiers
set up roadblocks in a number of the citys neighborhoods, witnesses
said.