[Dryerase] AGR Israeli reoccupation intensifies

[Shawn G]

Asheville Global Report (www.agrnews.org)

Israeli reoccupation intensifies

By Brendan Conley

July 2 (AGR)— Israel intensified its US-funded reoccupation of Palestinian 
territories, killing several Palestinian civilians and destroying the Hebron 
headquarters of the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli army attacked the Palestinian Headquarters in the West Bank town 
of Hebron on Fri., June 28, using more than a ton of explosives. About 15 
Palestinian militants had defended the headquarters, but Israeli officials 
have found no one -- dead or alive -- in the rubble. Bulldozers are 
continuing the destruction. Israel banned international journalists from 
major West Bank towns until recently.

Hebron is one of seven towns in the Palestinian territories that Israel has 
reoccupied recently, imposing a blanket curfew that has confined about 
700,000 residents to virtual house arrest.

Israel justified the invasion as retaliation for a series of Palestinian 
suicide bombings and attacks last week that killed more than 30 Israelis.

Israeli troops reportedly shut down an office for liaison with the 
Palestinians near Bethlehem, ordering the staff out and replacing 
Palestinian flags with Israeli ones.

The violence continued throughout the territories. In the Gaza Strip, 
Israeli troops killed a Palestinian woman and wounded her husband near the 
Israeli settlement Kfar Darom. Israeli troops killed a 12 year old 
Palestinian boy in the al-Fara refugee camp near Jenin by shooting him in 
the chest with a tear gas canister.

The attacks came as the United States -- which provides Israel with 
extensive military funding -- repudiated the Palestinian leadership. US 
President George W. Bush demanded June 24 that Palestinians elect “new 
leaders” -- apparently meaning leaders other than Yassir Arafat, who came to 
power in elections deemed “free and fair” by international observers.

On June 30, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Washington has cut 
ties with Arafat, and has no plans to deal with him in the future.

A bill is pending in the Knesset, or Israeli parliament, that would deny 
compensation to Palestinians injured by the Israeli Defense Forces, even in 
cases where soldiers violated the law. Israeli human rights organizations 
are protesting the pending bill.




_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: 
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx