Beit Hanun (Gaza Strip) Feb 24: Israeli forces occupied a northern Gaza Strip town and started building camps in commandeered houses, killing six Palestinians in a major operation to stamp out militants firing rockets into southern Israel and at Jewish settlements. Four other Palestinians and an Israeli soldier died as a result of yesterday's violence elsewhere in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. As the army dug in, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz warned troops would stay in Beit Hanun, north of Gaza city, until it had eliminated the risk of Hamas Islamic militants firing crude home-made rockets across the border. But hours later defiant Hamas members fired another two rockets into southern Israel, one of them hitting the town of Sderot without causing damage or injuries.
Israel has reoccupied the West Bank since June last year but has so far confined itself to large raids into the Gaza Strip, a bastion of Islamic militants from Hamas and Islamic jihad. The reoccupation started shortly after midnight and was still underway more than 16 hours later, with forces sandbagging two sequestered houses and a school as bases and fighting intensive gun battles with armed Palestinians.
Bureau Report