Before dawn, the IDF sends troops, tanks, helicopters into s. Gaza, leaving at least 2 Palestinians wounded. Later in the day, the IDF fires on Palestinian farmers working their land nr. the central Gaza border, wounding an 11-yr.-old child. Late in the evening, the IDF conducts air strikes, destroying the home of an AMB mbr. in Jabaliya r.c. (the IDF phones residents in advance to warn them to evacuate), damaging 3 nearby houses. Also in Gaza, Palestinian militants blow a hole in the border wall separating Rafah fr. Egypt to try to allow Palestinians stranded on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing to leave for Egypt; the crossing has been open for only a few hrs. since Israel forced its closure on 6/25, barring EU monitors access. Islamic Jihad fires a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and in Hebron, Jenin (firing on residential areas). (PCHR, WP 8/24; NYT 8/25; PCHR 8/31)
Thursday, August 24, 2006