The IDF sends troops into Balata r.c., sparking stone-throwing, then firing on demonstrators, wounding 1; fires warning shots at 100s of Palestinian women, children marching to protest the ongoing military operations, wounding 1 child; fires on residential areas of Rafah; bulldozes a plot of agricultural land in Jabaliya r.c.; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Wadi al-Silqa. In Nablus, 6 Palestinians (1 of them armed; reportedly mbrs. of an AMB splinter group) kidnap 3 foreign church workers (1 American, 1 British, 1 Irish); the PA General Intelligence secures their release, the kidnappers escape, no motive is given. Separately, 12 armed mbrs. of the AMB Jenin faction raid, set fire to the empty office of newly appointed Jenin governor Qaddura Musa and the local PA General Intelligence headquarters, demanding that the PA do more to support “the wanted fighters, the prisoners, and the injured.” Palestinians fire a Qassam rocket at the Negev, causing no damage or injuries. (ITV, JAZ, VOP, XIN, YA 7/31, VOP 8/1 in WNC 8/3; WP, WT 8/1; PR 8/4; PCHR 8/5)
Saturday, July 31, 2004