A day after Hamas detonated a roadside bomb under a tank, killing 4 Israeli soldiers, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announces plans to crack down on Hamas in Gaza. In Gaza City, 6 senior Hamas mbrs. are killed, 3 bystanders are wounded when a car laden with explosives blows up; Hamas accuses Israel of remote detonating the device, assassinating the men. The IDF clashes with Palestinians in Nablus during a raid on an office building, leaving 3 Palestinians dead, 23 wounded; senior Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) mbr. and PLO Exec. Comm. mbr. Taysir Khalid, three other Palestinians are arrested in the raid. The IDF also fires on Palestinians in Jabaliya, killing 2 Palestinians, wounding 9; conducts arrest raids in Beitunia (targeting Hamas), Tulkarm (targeting Islamic Jihad, the tanzim); bulldozes 42 dunams (4 dunams 1 acre) of Palestinian land, 3 structures nr. Aley Sinai settlement. The Palestinian Authority (PA) says that Palestinians in n. Bethlehem have received notices fr. the IDF that 14 dunams of their land, including the Rachel’s Tomb area and 40 Palestinian homes, will be annexed to Jerusalem as part of the security fence construction. (AP, HA, REU 2/16; VOI 2/16, AYM 2/17 in WNC 2/19; HA, MM, NYT, PM, WP 2/17; LAW, WT 2/18; HA, LAW, PR, WT 2/19; LAW, PCHR 2/20; MEI 2/21; MM 2/24, 2/25; HA 2/28)
Sunday, February 16, 2003