TEL AVIV Ñ Israel's military, rocked by the killing of a senior
commander, has urged the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to launch
a major crackdown on Palestinian insurgents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The result has been the destruction of a major Palestinian Authority
military facility in the Gaza Strip and the demolition of the homes of
suspected Palestinian insurgents in the West Bank.
Military sources said the General Staff has submitted recommendations to
increase pressure on Palestinian insurgents, particularly in the West Bank
city of Hebron. The recommendations include house-to-house searches and the
destruction of homes of suspected insurgents in an effort to increase
deterrence.
Another proposed measure is to link Hebron's Jewish community with the
neighboring Israeli town of Kiryat Arba.
Hebron contains about 500 Jews and
60,000 Arabs and Kiryat Arba has a population of about 7,500 people.
Military sources said Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has approved the
proposes measures. On Sunday, the sources said six homes of suspected
insurgents were destroyed in Hebron. They said additional homes would be
demolished.
"This defensive posture is impossible to maintain," [Res.] Lt. Col.
Moshe Hager said. "We could have avoided this attack by additional and
constant offensive actions against terrorism."
Over the weekend, 12 Israelis, nine of them soldiers, were killed in an
ambush on Jewish worshippers conducted in Hebron. One of the soldiers was
Col. Dror Weinberg, a brigade commander of the Hebron region. Weinberg was
being prepared for a promotion to brigadier general.
Military sources said the Israeli force was taken by surprise and acted
hastily. They said the force did not respond in accordance with urban
warfare tactics drafted after Operation Defensive Shield in April.
The Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
Later, Hamas said its members also participated in the attack. Israeli
sources said the attackers entered Hebron a month ago after Israeli troops
left the Palestinian Authority-controlled part of the city.
Overnight Monday, an Israeli armored and infantry force destroyed a PA
security facility south of Gaza City. Israeli sources said 11 buildings at
the Preventive Security Apparatus facility at Tel Al Hawa were demolished.
They said the facility contained anti-tank rockets, short-range missiles and
other weapons banned by Israeli-PA accords signed in the 1990s.
Palestinian resistance was said to have been fierce and hours later
Palestinian gunners fired Kassam rockets toward a community in Israel.
Nobody was injured.
