NABLUS,
West Bank, October 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israeli
forces swooped on two hospitals in the northern West Bank town of
Nablus early Saturday, October 25, with the Palestinians reacting
angrily to Israeli plans for the next stage of its separation wall in
the occupied territory.
Israeli
troops raided Nablus's Anglican hospital in the early hours, detaining
an activist from the resistance Hamas movement who was being treated
in the intensive care unit, Palestinian medical and security sources
told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Khaled
Abu Hamad, 26, a member of Hamas's armed wing, Ezzedin Al-Qassam
Brigades, was critically wounded along with two other Hamas fighters
Wednesday when their car blew up in the eastern part of Nablus.
All
three were critically injured and one died the next day.
Hamad
was taken to the Anglican hospital, from where Israeli troops snatched
him, taking him away in a military ambulance.
Israeli
military sources confirmed the sweep, claiming troops had picked up a
"senior Hamas operative with blood on his hands".
The
Palestinian activist was taken in a military ambulance to a hospital
in Israel from where he would be taken for investigation for alleged
involvement in planning several bombings, added the Israeli sources
added.
Israeli
occupation troops also entered Rafidiyeh hospital looking for the
third Hamas member but were unable to find him, the sources said.
Failing
to find him, the occupation forces detained Jawad Shatyah, a senior
Fatah operative.
"He
was armed and living in the basement of the hospital. There he planned
all sorts of attacks against Israelis," one Israeli source
alleged, adding that it was the second time in two months that
Palestinians had been detained while using Rafidiyeh hospital as a
base.
Meanwhile,
another Palestinian was hospitalized in moderate condition after being
shot in the back by Israeli troops as he was trying to enter Nablus
via an alternative route, Palestinian medical and security sources
said.
In
the town's Balata refugee camp, two foreign volunteers for the
International Solidarity Movement were lightly injured by shrapnel
during overnight clashes between Palestinian fighters and Israeli
occupation forces.
Israeli
"Land Grab"
 |
|
Israel is going ahead with its controversial separation wall
|
Meanwhile,
senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat scold Israel over plans to
extend its separation wall in the Jordan Valley, saying the aim was a
blatant attempt at a fresh land-grab.
"This
shows the wall Israel has started building is not for security reasons
- they just want to have more Palestinian land and control of all the
water resources," Erekat told AFP.
"Israel
wants to divide the West Bank into small cantons."
The
Israeli decision was "a challenge to the United Nations
resolution", he added, calling on the U.S. administration to
pressure Israel to stop.
The
U.N. General Assembly
voted overwhelmingly Wednesday in favor of a resolution demanding
Israel to "stop and reverse" construction of the barrier.
Within
the next few days, the Palestinian Authority will announce a
comprehensive program to work against this Israeli policy, Erekat
said.
He
was reacting to an announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Friday that his government would discuss the idea of building a buffer
zone in the Jordan Valley that encroached "several
kilometers" (miles) into the West Bank.
"This
fence project in the Jordan Valley is currently under consideration.
When it is ready, it will be presented to the government to be
discussed," he told Israel's privately-run Channel Two, vowing it
would be finished "in a year".
The
600km-long wall will cut occupied Jerusalem off from the rest of the
West Bank and effectively cuts off vast swathes of fertile land and
scores of villages from the occupied West Bank.
The
first phase of the barrier was completed in July 2003 in the northern
West Bank.
The
Israeli separation wall has drawn worldwide condemnation with Israel's
staunch ally Washington critical of the controversial barrier.
U.S.
President George Bush had previously described the wall as "a
problem" obstructing the creation of a
Palestinian state.
However,
he dropped
the term four days later when Sharon was visiting him in the White
House.
U.S.
Secretary of State
Collin Powell warned sanctions against Tel Aviv
if it went ahead with the construction.
A
U.N. report underlined last month that the wall marked illegal
annexation of Palestinian territory and must be
condemned by the world community.
Few
hours after the U.N. report, the defiant Israeli government of Ariel
Sharon approved Wednesday, October 1, a new 100-million-dollar
section of the controversial barrier.
However,
Sharon's right-wing government snubbed all criticism and went ahead
with its plans, seen by observers and diplomats as "the last nail
in the coffin of Washington-sponsored roadmap".
