Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The Israeli navy fires on a Palestinian fishing boat off the Rafah coast, arrests 3 fishermen. IDF troops on the central Gaza border fire on 3 unarmed Palestinians attempting to sneak into Israel to find work, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding and arresting 2; sends bulldozers, tanks 150 m into Gaza e. of Dayr al-Balah to level, excavate land. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian barn killing animals inside, an irrigation system, and heavily damages 3 greenhouses nr. Nablus; conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Azun, Bayt Fajjar. Jewish settlers fr. Ma’ale Adumim severely beat a 16-yr.-old Palestinian. Some 40 masked Palestinian gunmen raid a vacant beach resort at a fmr. Israeli settlement site in Gaza owned by Fatah strongman Dahlan, overpowering the few Palestinian security guards watching the site, blowing up a reception hall, stating, without being specific, that they are sending Dahlan a message; no one is injured. ESF, Fatah mbrs. exchange fire outside the Bayt Hanun hospital, causing no injuries. In Gaza City, gunfire erupts btwn. guards outside the Palestinian Electricity Company offices and some 50 Palestinians demonstrating against recent power outages, leaving 1 Palestinian wounded. In Nablus, AMB mbrs. temporarily detain a French diplomat and his 2 body guards, set fire to their car initially suspecting them of being an IDF undercover unit. (OCHA, WT 1/24; PCHR 1/25)