MIDDLE EAST: Six Palestinians killed in raids

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Att.Editors: The following item is from the Qatar News Agency (QNA)

GAZA, Apr 3 2003 (IPS) - Israeli troops backed by tanks, attack helicopters and bulldozers raided a Palestinian refugee camp early Thursday, exchanging fire with gunmen that killed at least four people, witnesses said. Two others died in the West Bank.

Soldiers entered the refugee camp near Rafah on the Gaza-Egyptian border. In an Apache helicopter fire at least one Palestinian was killed. Three others died in exchanges of fire, and seven were wounded in the clashes, hospital sources said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Minister Saeb Erekat condemned the killings, including a teenager in Qalqiliya, and urged the international community not to allow Israel to continue exploiting the war with Iraq to achieve its end goal.