May 20, 2004
Israel Defies World Outcry, Expands Gaza Offensive
Reuters

Defying international fury and a rare U.S. rebuke, Israel expanded its bloodiest Gaza Strip (news - web sites) raid in years on Thursday after killing 39 Palestinians in three days of fighting in the Rafah refugee camp.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Defying international fury and a rare U.S. rebuke, Israel expanded its bloodiest Gaza Strip (news - web sites) raid in years on Thursday after killing 39 Palestinians in three days of fighting in the Rafah refugee camp.

Tensions in the region rose further after a Tel Aviv court convicted Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouthi of masterminding killings of Israelis and accused President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) of giving broad approval for attacks.

Israel's justice minister issued a threat to put Arafat on trial one day. Barghouthi is second in popularity only to Arafat among Palestinians and is seen as a potential successor.

The U.N. Security Council urged an end to violence after Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians at a peaceful protest on Wednesday. The Council convened at the behest of Arabs incensed at what they branded a "war crime."

Reflecting its displeasure, the United States, Israel's chief ally, allowed adoption of the U.N. resolution by abstaining rather than using its veto. President Bush (news - web sites) urged restraint from the Jewish state.

Senior U.S. officials kept up pressure with phone calls to Israeli counterparts, urging Israel to wrap up the three-day-old raid as quickly as possible, an Israeli political source said.

Israeli commentators predicted Israel would soon comply. "Time is running out," read a headline in the Jerusalem Post.

But the army, which stormed the Rafah camp after losing 13 soldiers in Gaza ambushes last week, forged ahead on Thursday.

Troops pushed into Rafah districts on the border with Egypt, where the army says it is searching for tunnels used to smuggle weapons for a Palestinian revolt since 2000.

Overnight helicopter strikes killed three militants and two other men, witnesses said. The army said it struck gunmen. Witnesses said soldiers shot dead a 39-year-old man on his roof. The army said troops "spotted a terrorist and shot him."

International outrage reached a crescendo on Wednesday when Israeli tanks and helicopters fired toward protesters marching to demand humanitarian aid. Medics said 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 50 hurt, many of them young people.

"HORRIFYING"

"It was horrifying," said demonstrator Mahmoud Abu Hashem, 35. "There was one person with his intestines coming out."

Troops said they did not aim to hit the rally, but tank fire intended to repel protesters might have caused casualties.

Violence has spiked since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) proposed evacuating troops and Jewish settlers in a plan backed by most Israelis and the United States, but rejected by his right-wing Likud party in a referendum this month.

Palestinian militants want to claim as a victory any Israeli pullout from territories it seized in the 1967 Middle East war, but the army is determined to smash them first.

Amid the spiral of bloodshed, a Tel Aviv court found lawmaker Barghouthi guilty in the killings of five Israelis by militants from his Fatah (news - web sites) faction. But it cleared him in attacks that claimed the lives of more than 20 other Israelis.

The judges wrote in their verdict that Barghouthi's orders for attacks were sometimes "based on instructions" from Arafat.

Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said Israel might consider putting Arafat on trial "one of these days."

Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rdainah called the allegations "unfounded and baseless."

Israel accuses Arafat, a 75-year-old former guerrilla leader largely confined to his West Bank headquarters for more than two years, of having fomented suicide bombings and ambush attacks. He has denied the allegations.

Prosecutors asked for five life sentences for Barghouthi, a West Bank leader who had maintained his innocence since his 2002 arrest but expressed pride in resistance to Israeli occupation.

"This is a court of occupation that I did not recognize," the bearded, 44-year-old firebrand said in the courtroom.

Militants linked to Fatah vowed to kidnap Israeli soldiers to exchange them for Barghouthi. (Additional reporting by Dan Williams, Megan Goldin and Wafa Amr)

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