Israeli pullback but Gaza offensive continues
Israeli troops pulled back from two battle-scarred neighbourhoods of Gaza’s Rafah refugee camp today, but the army said it was merely redeploying forces and that its offensive would continue.
As relief trucks brought food and water to one of the worst-hit areas, residents returned to scenes of ripped-up roads and demolished buildings. Many lingered only to scoop up a few possessions, saying they feared a renewal of the violence that has left 40 Palestinians dead in four days.
While the army vowed to continue the incursion in search of arms-smuggling tunnels and militants, Israeli officials indicated they were looking for an alternative to the mass demolition of Palestinian homes, a prospect that has brought fierce international criticism.
Israeli tanks and troops withdrew to the edges of the Tel Sultan and Brazil areas of the camp, leaving behind dozens of demolished and damaged houses, torn-up roads and flattened cars.
Residents waving strips of white cloth picked their way over mounds of rubble, at one point walking near an Israeli tank that fired machine-gun rounds as they passed.
Some residents rummaged through the debris, retrieving mattresses, photo albums, shoes and clothing.
“I came to get some stuff from my house but there’s nothing left to take,” said Sami Mekawi, 28, a resident of the Brazil neighbourhood. “All I see is sand and rubble and torn-down electrical poles and destroyed roads.”
During more than three years of Palestinian-Israeli violence, Israeli forces have made dozens of forays into the Rafah camp to destroy tunnels used to smuggle weapons across the nearby Egyptian border.
Brigadier General Shmuel Zakai, army commander of the Gaza region, said the weapons militants attempted to smuggle constituted a ”great and imminent danger” to Israelis.
The Israeli military said 90 tunnels have been found and destroyed since 2000, though none have been discovered during the current Operation Rainbow offensive, launched on Tuesday.
