Gaza Braces For Israeli Revenge

Meanwhile, a deal is reached to end the standoff at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.

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JERUSALEM — Tanks were poised outside Gaza and Israel called up military reservists Thursday ahead of an expected retaliatory attack for Palestinian suicide bombings, even as a deal was reached to end the standoff at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.

Palestinians arrested 16 members of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that claimed it carried out a deadly suicide attack earlier this week, a first sign that Yasser Arafat was taking action against terror groups. Tanks were parked off Gaza, the home base of the Hamas militant group, and Israeli forces around the strip were being beefed up Thursday night.

But Hamas leaders in Gaza — a sliver of Mediterranean coastline two-thirds of which is under Palestinian autonomy — said they were going about life as usual. Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin went ahead with the afternoon wedding reception for one of his seven daughters, his son Mohammed said.

Mohammed Dahlan, Yasser Arafat’s security chief in Gaza, said the Palestinians were expecting an attack. Early today, Bethlehem police chief Alaa Hosni said 13 suspected militants would leave the church starting at daybreak, part of a deal to end the 5½-week standoff at the Church of the Nativity — Jesus’ traditional birthplace.

Cyprus’ foreign minister and Palestinian sources said the militants would be taken first to Cyprus and later be divided among several countries. Under the deal, Italy and Spain would take some of the alleged militants, while Austria, Greece, Luxembourg and Ireland might take the rest, said an Italian Foreign Ministry official.

The official, who spoke in Rome on condition of anonymity, said the move was a “humanitarian decision” — meaning the 13 would likely not be kept in prison. Also Thursday, the Israeli Cabinet approved unspecified reprisals in response to Tuesday’s bombing in a Tel Aviv suburb.

Fifteen Israelis were killed, the deadliest since Israel launched its West Bank military offensive March 29 in response to a wave of suicide bombings.

The reserve call-up was smaller than the one that preceded that operation, during which troops occupied six of the eight main Palestinian towns in the West Bank for periods of up to several weeks and fought running battles with Palestinian gunmen.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres hinted Israel might have a more limited operation in mind this time, “striking at centers from which the suicide attackers come, or the houses from which they come, or the nests from which the organization of suicide bombers comes.” Military sources said the operation will be centered on Gaza, but may not be restricted to the strip.

The objective is to hit at Hamas leaders and end the sense of immunity the militants in Gaza have enjoyed, senior official sources said. Military commentators also said they expected the Gaza operation to be more limited than the West Bank offensive. Fighting in densely populated Gaza would be much more complicated and could expose troops to greater risks.

European Union envoy Miguel Moratinos condemned the suicide attack, but said the EU was “very concerned” it could lead to increasing violence and a new military action. The EU was working with the United States, Russia and the United Nations to try to prevent that, he said. Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat criticized the expected operation.

“Such an attack will lead to disastrous consequences for the Palestinian people there,” he said. “This will be adding fuel to the fire.” In a televised address Wednesday, Arafat said he had ordered his security forces to arrest Palestinian terror groups.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Thursday the Palestinian Authority “has already taken some measures to control the security situation.” In Gaza City, Hamas officials reported that 16 of their members were arrested Thursday by Palestinian police. None of the senior members of the group were among those taken into custody, however.

How this transcription was made

Masthead not readable on the scan. The label on the slide read: [masthead not on scan] — ASSEMBLED FROM 2 SCANS (A1 and the A10 jump). “MIDEAST VIOLENCE” is a section flag above the headline — a kicker, not a deck; the sentence under the headline IS a genuine deck and is recorded in `dek`. The THIRD scan on this slide (s104_3) is the Norwich Bulletin’s front page carrying the SAME AP story under a different headline, and is filed as its own record. — No masthead and no date on either scan. The clipping is cut to the story: scan 1 is the page-A1 column beginning at the section flag, scan 2 is the A10 jump beginning at the jump head. The date is settled indirectly and firmly: this is the identical Associated Press story by Ravi Nessman that the Norwich Bulletin ran on its front page of FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002 (scan 3 of this same slide, where the date IS printed). So 10 May 2002 is right, but it is not printed on these two scans, and neither is the paper. — Two clippings of one article, joined into a single image for the record (s104_1.png, s104_2.png).

Cite this clipping

"Gaza Braces For Israeli Revenge," (newspaper unidentified), 10 May 2002, p. A1, continued on A10 (“PLEASE SEE ISRAEL, PAGE A10” / “CONTINUED FROM A1”). Covering Palestine archive, CP-2002-140. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-2002-140