security forces because they threatened Jewish settlers, officials said Thursday, January 2.
They were reportedly killed in clashes and incursions into the Gaza Strip the previous Wednesday night and Thursday morning. In one of the incidents troops shot and killed three young Palestinian teenagers who the army said were trying to attack a Jewish settlement in northern Gaza.
Army officials said the three "intruders" turned out to be young teenagers armed with wire-cutters and a knife.
The Cable News Network (CNN) also quoted Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman as saying that another attack happened early Thursday when Israeli police shot and killed a gunman who entered a home in Maor, a Jewish township near the Green Line, the border with the West Bank.
"FULL BATTLE DRESS"
He stressed the man wore "full battle dress" and carried and M- 16 rifle, firing as he went into the house. Somehow the people inside the home stopped the man from shooting, Kleiman said. The gunman was killed after a three hour stand-off with security forces, after the couple he threatened fled when his rifle jammed, reports said.
Israeli forces also moved into the Nusairat and Bureij refugee camps, where Palestinian gunmen took to the streets to confront the troops as they advanced into the area with armoured vehicles and bulldozers, witnesses said.
In addition the soldiers also entered the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza and used bulldozers to destroy several buildings, which Israel said were being used by Palestinian gunmen.
CONCERN ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS
However human rights organizations have expressed outrage about the destruction of homes and what they see as Israel’s assassination policies.
Israel says its actions deter suicide attacks, but there is concern about the human suffering among especially Palestinians, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) suggested. Last month, 45 Palestinians were reportedly killed and 8 Israelis.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has said that dialogue is the only way to end the violence, but Israel says he has blown his chances by not doing enough to tackle terrorism.
There are worries among Palestinians that Israel’s upcoming elections will not produce a leadership that is willing to discuss peace and sensitive issues, including the status of Jerusalem.
ISRAELI-ARAB BOYCOTT
Israeli-Arab leaders have also said they will call for a boycott of Israel’s January 28 elections unless two Israeli- Arab legislators are allowed to run for office.
However Israel’s election commission barred Amzi Bishara and his Balad party as well as Ahmed Tibi from running in the upcoming election on the grounds that both politicians support Palestinian attacks against Israel.
Both deny supporting terrorist activities, but also point out they do support the right of a people to resist occupation, several news reports said.
PALESTINIANS URGE PRAYER
Palestinian Christians and foreign missionary organizations have suggested that only prayers can solve the conflict in the region.
While some organizations focus on the return of Jewish people to Israel, others are saying that the Gospel of Jesus Christ should be preached in this difficult era.
The latest violence came shortly after Pope John Paul II suggested on Wednesday, January 1, that the search for a peaceful solution is more important than ever.
"Bethlehem! The Holy Land! The dramatic and persistent tensions that the Middle East region finds itself in makes all the more urgent the search for a positive solution to the fratricidal and senseless conflict, which for too long has bloodied it," he said at New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
