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Israeli tanks move into GazaSix reported killed as IDF targets weapons tunnels
GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Israeli tanks rolled into Rafah, in southern Gaza, overnight on a mission to shut down tunnels that Israel says are used for smuggling arms. Palestinian hospital sources said the fighting killed six Palestinians and wounded at least 40 others. According to the Israel Defense Forces, its troops -- made up of infantry, tank and engineering units -- are in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt to uncover the tunnels and to arrest wanted Palestinians. "The city of Rafah has been used as the main artery for smuggling arms into Gaza," the IDF said. "Thirty tunnels were uncovered in the last year and 70 in the last three years." Witnesses and Palestinian security sources said about 50 Israeli tanks rolled into Rafah late Thursday, destroying at least five houses. At least one of the homes is believed to be owned by a Fatah activist, the sources said. IDF said its forces destroyed three buildings that were being used by Palestinians to fire on the Israeli troops. The sources said Israeli Apache helicopters participated in the incursion and that the tanks went into the center of Rafah as well as the refugee camp there. According to the IDF, its forces faced "fierce resistance" and returned fire after armed Palestinians hit them with explosive devices, antitank missiles, hand grenades and machine-gun fire. One Israeli soldier was lightly wounded. Possible split in Palestinian leadershipMeanwhile, the Palestinian Legislative Council postponed a vote of confidence Thursday after legislators were unable to decide whether to back Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei and other members of a newly formed emergency Cabinet. Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat had declared emergency law and authorized the Cabinet after a suicide bombing Satuday at a Haifa restuarant. A woman who was badly wounded in that terror attack has died, bringing the death toll to 20 people, Israeli medical sources said. Lydia Zilberstein, 56, was pronounced dead in Rambam Hospital on Thursday. After the postponement of the vote of confidence over the emergency Cabinet, Qorei held what was described by sources as a stormy session with Arafat in his Ramallah headquarters in the West Bank. Asked if he had threatened to resign, a clearly angry Qorei told reporters he would not comment on speculation about his future and walked away. Sources in the council said legislators are trying to reach a consensus on how to go forward -- whether to approve the emergency Cabinet headed by Qorei or wait for him to form an expanded Cabinet.
Arafat's emergency decree that allows him to form a Cabinet without the approval of the PLC. It can be in effect for 30 days. He also authorized prime minister-designee Qorei as prime minister without the council's approval -- which Arafat may do under emergency law but not under normal procedures. On Tuesday, Qorei was sworn in along with six members of the eight-member emergency government. Two refused to be sworn in, including the designated interior minister, Nasser Yousef, who would be in charge of Palestinian security forces and who would lead any crackdown on militants. He said he wanted to wait for a vote of confidence from the PLC. While a vote of confidence is not needed to approve an emergency government, Qorei had said he wanted the vote to show the support of legislators. However, council members said that although an emergency government has only a 30-day term, several lawmakers said they feared Arafat would simply keep renewing the emergency degree, cutting the PLC out of the process. Other legislators were arguing that a vote of confidence should wait until Qorei had time to name a full slate of ministers, expected to be 24 in all. The failure of the Legislative Council to vote left the position of Qorei and his Cabinet unclear. Qorei had said he was working behind the scenes on a new Palestinian cease-fire which his government intended to declare. He said he hoped Israel would reciprocate. The first Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, resigned on September 6. Abbas, who said he would not serve as a figurehead, was at odds with Arafat during the four months he was in office over the ability to control portions of the Palestinian security force that Arafat kept under his command. But in his resignation, Abbas blamed "Israel's unwillingness to implement its road map commitments and to undertake any constructive measures" in an effort to reach a peace. Suicide bombing in West BankAlso on Thursday, a suicide bomber set off a blast at the District Coordinating Office near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, the Israel Defense Forces said, killing himself and wounding three other people. In a written statement an IDF spokesman said, "A Palestinian suicide bomber exploded himself at the DCO located at the entrance to Tulkarem. The bomber approached the reception window and exploded himself, injuring two IDF soldiers, one of them moderately and the other lightly; in addition a Palestinian was lightly injured. All of the injured were taken to receive medical treatment in a hospital." The District Coordinating Office is used by Palestinians to obtain travel permits. It also serves as a contact point where Israelis and Palestinians can coordinate a number of activities, including the movement of humanitarian aid. The IDF spokesman said the bomber took advantage of the fact that Palestinian civilians are normally in the area to approach the office and set off the blast. In addition, the IDF said that troops Wednesday discovered a bag in Tulkarem containing 20 kilograms of explosives and a trigger mechanism. -- CNN Producer Talal Abdurahma and CNN correspondent Fionnuala Sweeney in Ramallah contributed to this report.
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