Israeli Army Denies It Has Undercover ‘Death Squads’ : Mideast: It rejects charges by U.S. rights group. It acknowledges that rules on use of firearms in occupied territories have changed.

The Israeli army on Tuesday strongly denied charges by a U.S. human rights group that its undercover units in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have become “death squads” with a virtual “license to kill” Palestinians suspected of opposing Israel’s continued occupation of the territories.

“Any claims that there are orders to kill are based on lies and fabrication,” said Lt. Col. Moshe Fogel, a deputy spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. “Our rules of engagement strictly limit when a soldier may open fire, and they apply to all soldiers in all units. . . . We have no ‘hit squads.’ ”

Fogel was commenting on a report this week by the New York-based Middle East Watch alleging that the undercover squads are routinely using lethal force without justification against Palestinians and that there is strong evidence of summary executions and outright assassinations as well.

“The primary role of the Israel Defense Force’s special units operating in the administered territories is to apprehend those individuals involved in terrorist activities against local Arab and Israeli civilians as well as against the security forces,” the army said in a formal statement.

“The basic principle guiding Israel’s special forces is the clear distinction they make between those individuals engaged in hostile subversive activity and the general civilian population. The Israel Defense Forces completely reject the groundless allegation that (its) soldiers have been shooting indiscriminately at innocent local residents.”

But the army acknowledged: “As a result of the increase in violence and the new situation that developed, the regulations (on use of firearms) were updated and modified in order to meet the danger posed by armed terrorists.”

A spokesman refused, however, to say what changes were made because of a policy of not disclosing the rules of engagement.

The army said that about 150 “armed fugitives” are currently operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and alleged that they constitute the “hard-core element of the intifada (the 5 1/2-year Palestinian rebellion against the Israeli occupation) and spearhead its terrorist activities.”

By the army’s count, it is capturing far more people on its “wanted” list than it is killing in skirmishes. In Gaza this year, 59 men were captured and seven surrendered, the army said, compared to 18 who were killed; however, 42 managed to escape to Egypt.

Meanwhile, another watchdog group, Palestinian Human Rights Information Center, published its own detailed study of those killed by Israeli undercover units last year--a total of 55, according to the center, for an increase of 80% over 1991.

“The rise in killings carried out by these units, despite the detailed indictments by human rights organizations of their use of excessive force, summary executions, killing of innocent bystanders and shoot-to-kill techniques as standard operating procedures, demonstrates that their behavior is accepted by the Israeli military and political establishment,” the Jerusalem-based group said.