Israel raids three Palestinian towns, refugee camp in reprisal for rocket attack

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip — Israeli troops raided three Palestinian towns and a refugee camp yesterday in the most extensive military operation in the Gaza Strip in 16 months of fighting, launched in reprisal for Palestinian rocket fire on Israel.

Four armed Palestinians and a civilian were killed.

Tanks withdrew from two towns and the refugee camp after several hours, but troops set up positions in the third town, Beit Hanoun, pitching tents in a girls' high school and the town square. In house-to-house searches, troops arrested at least 27 suspected Islamic militants.

Ali Shabat, 41, a farmer, said he witnessed the arrest of two neighbors. During a two-hour search of the neighbor's house, women and children were forced to stand in pouring rain, Shabat said.

After daybreak, Palestinian gunmen battled Israeli troops firing tank-mounted machine guns. Several dozen Palestinian youngsters who were throwing stones at the tanks were in the line of fire. One youngster was wounded in the leg.

Israeli Cabinet Minister Ephraim Sneh said soldiers would remain in Palestinian-controlled areas of Gaza for days, until rocket factories had been found, and that the military would carry out more large-scale, long-term raids if rocket fire persists.

"This is a threat we cannot tolerate," Sneh, an ex-general, told Israel Army Radio.

The Israeli incursions were in response to the firing of two homemade rockets by the Islamic militant group Hamas at southern Israel on Sunday. The rockets, called the Qassam-2, landed in open fields and caused no injuries. However, Israel is concerned that the Qassam-2, which has a range of three to five miles and is very inaccurate, can reach Israeli population centers.

Palestinian officials warned that the Israeli incursions would lead to further escalation.

"The United States must put an end to this Israeli policy," said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar threatened revenge, telling Al-Manar television that Hamas would continue firing Qassam-2 rockets.

"Hamas does not differentiate between settlements in the Palestinian territories and cities in the so-called Israel," he said. The Islamic militant group does not accept the presence of the Jewish state.

The Israeli military closed the Gaza Strip to journalists trying to cover the incursions.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian security chief in the West Bank pledged his loyalty to Arafat yesterday, a day after witnesses said the Palestinian leader threatened him at gunpoint during a heated argument.

Arafat was shaking at the time and the pistol fell from his hand, said a Palestinian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Arafat's aides declined comment on the incident. But one Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity that Arafat accused Jibril Rajoub of failing to prevent the release of militants from Palestinian prisons.

The Israeli operation began around midnight Tuesday, when dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers drove into the towns of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and Deir al-Balah, as well as the Jebalya refugee camp.

In Deir al-Balah, three Palestinian policemen were killed when Israeli tanks shelled their positions, Palestinian security officials said. In Beit Lahiya and the adjacent Jebalya camp, soldiers searched homes and arrested 11 suspected members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.