Forces Tear Down Three Homes, Wreck Ten Others in Rafah

RAFAH, Palestine, September 1, 2004 (IPC + WAFA)-- Israeli forces tore down three houses and wrecked ten others in the city of Rafah, as they invaded refugee camps in the West Bank.

IPC correspondent said that Israeli forces invaded Tal Al Sultan quarter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah and demolished three houses there, while partially destroying ten others.

Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that Israeli forces opened heavy and random gunfire at civilians and their homes in the quarter, before Israeli bulldozers advanced and tore down three houses there. The bulldozers also wrecked ten other houses and razed dozens of dunums of arable lands before their withdrawal.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces invaded Balata refugee camp in the city of Nablus early this morning, amidst heavy gunfire, security sources and eyewitnesses said.

The sources asserted that an Israeli special force infiltrated the camp and opened their automatic rifles at the civilians there. It was later followed by large forces of Israeli troops who seized two houses in the camp and turned them into military posts.

Israeli troops also detained an ambulance near the northern entrance of the camp, and forced the medical workers inside to step out of the car before detaining them for several hours.

As well, Israeli forces invaded the Azza refugee camp in Bethlehem and arrested four civilians there.

WAFA news agency reported that Israeli forces advanced through the refugee camp from its northern entrance and staged a house-to-house search campaign, in which four young men were arrested and led to an undisclosed location.

Several local residents complained the Israeli troops wrecked their furniture and personal belongings during the search campaign.

In the meantime, Israeli troops disrupted the movement of civilians in Jenin province, eyewitnesses said.

The witnesses added that hundreds of government employees and students were detained at a mobile military checkpoint near the Jaba' Village, south of Jenin, delaying students from reaching their schools on their first school day.

Also, the residents of Jenin's southern villages were forced to wait from the early morning hours at the aforementioned checkpoint in order to be allowed through by the soldiers manning this checkpoint, causing large traffic jams in the area.