Israeli Forces Invade Parts of Hebron

Under heavy fire, Israeli armor stormed into Palestinian-ruled territory late Thursday, taking over hillside neighborhoods in Hebron in retaliation for gunfire directed at Jewish enclaves, witnesses and the army said.

Troops occupied Abu Sneineh and other neighborhoods and destroyed two houses that had been used by snipers before pulling out after three hours, an army spokeswoman said early today.

The late-night incursion marked a foray into one of the region’s major hot spots. Since a 1997 agreement, Hebron has been divided between more than 100,000 Palestinians and about 450 Jews.

Abu Sneineh has been an especially potent symbol for hard-line Israelis, who have demanded that the government seize the neighborhood, particularly since the slaying in March of a Jewish baby in Hebron. Palestinian gunmen in Abu Sneineh often target Jewish residents and trade fire with the Israeli army posted to protect the settlers. In turn, Israel clamps harsh restrictions on the larger Palestinian population.

On Thursday evening, two Hebron settlers were wounded by Palestinian gunfire as they stood on their balcony: an 11-year-old boy, who was shot in the stomach, and his 18-year-old brother.

Palestinian journalists in Hebron reported seeing at least 15 armored personnel carriers and military vehicles driving more than 200 yards into the area of the city under Palestinian control. Army sources said tanks and bulldozers also participated in the operation.

Residents said Israeli forces had taken over three sections of Hebron that overlook Jewish enclaves. Jamal Ash-Shobaki, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a Hebron resident, said he heard gun battles throughout the evening but that the firing subsided about an hour after the Israelis moved in.

“This is an attempt to kill all agreements,” he said when reached by telephone during the incursion. “I suspect the Israelis will stay a few hours and then leave. It would be very complicated to remain among so many Palestinian people.”

The army spokeswoman said troops had not intended to stay and withdrew once they finished destroying the two buildings.

Ash-Shobaki said the Abu Sneineh neighborhood often clears out in the evening because of the near-nightly shootings. Residents had either fled or were hunkered down in their homes, he said.

Brig. Gen. Tarik Zeid, commander of Palestinian police in Hebron, said in a telephone interview that Israeli helicopters had fired to provide backup for the armored ground forces. He reported that eight Palestinians were wounded in gun battles.

There were later news reports that two Palestinians were killed. One soldier was lightly wounded, the army said.

Earlier in the day, Israeli tanks plowed into Palestinian territory near a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and destroyed a police post in retaliation for mortar fire at Jewish settlements.

Such incursions, combined with the targeting and killing of suspected militants, gunmen and bombers, have become the most public--and, Israel says, successful--tactics in efforts to crush a Palestinian revolt that has raged nearly 11 months and claimed hundreds of lives.

Also Thursday, Israel fired missiles near the West Bank city of Nablus at the car of a prominent activist in Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, reportedly wounding the man and at least two others.

And an 11-year-old Palestinian boy, Mahmoud Zourab, was shot and killed as he threw stones during a clash with Israeli troops in Gaza after the funeral of a Palestinian slain a day earlier, Palestinian witnesses said.