The IDF opens fire on a Jenin market full of children on their way to school, fatally shooting an 18-yr.-old Palestinian, wounding 23; fires on a group of Palestinians throwing stones, Molotov cocktails at APCs patrolling central Tulkarm in search of wanted AMB mbrs., killing 1 Palestinian bystander, wounding 18; fires on Palestinians firing a mortar at Nisanit settlement (no damage), killing 1 Palestinian bystander, wounding 9; fatally shoots an armed Islamic Jihad mbr., dressed in an IDF uniform, attempting to infiltrate Netzarim settlement; searches, blows up a clearly marked UN World Food Program (WFP) warehouse in Gaza, containing 500 metric tons of food to feed 38,000 needy Palestinians for 1 mo.; bars a Palestinian heart-attack victim fr. fr. reaching a hospital in Azariyya, allowing him to die. In Hebron, the IDF announces that it plans to demolish 15 Palestinian homes to create a bypass road, protective wall linking Kiryat Arba settlement to the Cave of the Patriarchs/al-Ibrahimi Mosque (see 11/17); soldiers search several homes in the area to see if they are inhabited. (LAW, WFP press release 12/2; LAW, MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 12/3; al-Quds 12/3 in WNC 12/4; PR, USIS Washington File 12/4; MEI 12/6; AP 12/10; MEI 12/20)
YESHA settlers council chmn. Bentzi Liberman says that settlers are planning to set up new neighborhoods (15+n50 units each) in 14 settlements, expand construction in 10s of settlements in the run-up to 1/28/03 elections. The expansions will be funded by the Housing Min., a private developer. (MA 12/3 in WNC 12/4)