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www.bbc.com
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Israel seeks mass Gaza surrender


Israeli forces have already knocked down some 100 houses and shops in
Rafah
Israeli troops on a raid in southern Gaza have called for a mass
surrender of male residents in part of the Rafah refugee camp.
Reports say army loudspeakers told males aged 16 or over in the Tel
Sultan area to gather at a local school or risk demolition of their
family homes.

Officials are quoted as saying they were after militants, not all
males.

Troops stormed the camp on Tuesday, killing 20 people and confining
residents without electrity or water.

Thousands of residents are reported to have emerged from their homes
in response to the call, and walked to the school carrying white flags
ahead of Israeli tanks.

Firing by the Israeli troops continued as the residents gave
themselves up, family members said, quoted by Reuters news agency.

Tuesday violence was among the bloodiest in three years of
Israeli-Palestinian violence - and reports speak of another four
deaths on Wednesday, including a 14-year-old boy.

The army says it is punishing militants and destroying arms-smuggling
tunnels. Several houses belonging to the families of militant suspects
have been demolished.

International condemnation has mounted against Israel and the US has
asked for clarification about its actions.

Teenagers killed

Israel says it only shot at militants on the first day of "Operation
Rainbow" although the Palestinian dead included a boy, 13, and his
older sister.

Witnesses said they had been killed by an Israeli sniper as they
gathered laundry from a rooftop - but the military suggested they were
killed by a Palestinian bomb aimed at troops.

RAFAH REFUGEE CAMP

Population: 90,000
Largest of several camps near city of Rafah, southern Gaza
Established in 1949 to house 41,000 refugees from newly-founded state
of Israel
Expanded in 1967 when Gaza occupied by Israel
About 1,800 houses demolished by Israeli army since 2000

Palestinian medics said a number of the dead from two missile strikes
on Tuesday were civilians.

The number of wounded had risen to 50 on Wednesday, exceeding the
capacity of Rafah's hospital.

Palestinian resident said ambulances were having difficulty evacuating
casualties to hospitals due to the intense fighting.

A 55-year-old resident of Rafah, quoted by Associated Press, said
soldiers used two of his cousins as human shields during
house-to-house searches.

'New pullout plan'

The massive invasion into Rafah camp - one of the largest and
bloodiest ever in Gaza - comes a week after Palestinian militants
killed 13 Israeli soldiers in several ambushes. Seven died near Rafah.

The army says it demolished the home of Ibrahim Ahmed, an Islamic
Jihad militant blamed for killing a pregnant Israeli settler and her
four daughters on 2 May.

This is an operation to destroy the local population, and this must
not be accepted, not by the Palestinians, the Arabs, or the
international community

Yasser Arafat
But military officials went back on their initially-declared plan to
systematically destroy whole rows of houses along a patrol road where
troops are frequently attacked by Palestinian militants.

Before the raid, thousands of residents - themselves refugees when
Israel was founded in 1949 - fled their homes fearing they were
earmarked for demolition.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he plans to pull troops and
settlers out of the Gaza Strip, but he hit an obstacle last month when
his own party voted overwhelmingly against withdrawal.

Government sources say Mr Sharon will present a reworked plan for a
phased pullout to cabinet soon.

The intense activity in Rafah camp is thought to part of a tactic to
avoid making withdrawal from Gaza seem like a defeat for Israeli
forces.

Stranded

Residents of Rafah camp, one of the most deprived and long-suffering
Palestinian communities, have described terrifying hours spent hiding
in their houses since Operation Rainbow began on Tuesday.


Rafah residents loaded up their possessions and fled the camp on
Monday
"There is no water, no electricity, and it is very hard to move inside
the house using candles, because snipers in the building next door
will shoot you," said 33-year-old mother of four Salwa Abu Jazar,
quoted by AP.

Saleem Katib said his elderly, sick father has been stuck with other
congregants at the mosque for more than 24 hours because of a total
curfew.

Another resident said human waste was spilling into the streets after
the Israelis destroyed a sewage pumping station generator.

"I saw an Israeli bulldozer starting to demolish a building as people
were still inside. No notice was given," Hassan Abu Yusef told AFP
news agency.

Condemnation

United Nations representatives in New York have been discussing a
proposed resolution to condemn the demolition of houses in Rafah and
call for an immediate halt to military action.

But the measure, which reportedly had broad Security Council support,
was met with a counter-proposal by the US, which usually blocks
documents singling out Israeli actions for criticism.

Britain has proposed compromise amendments, and a final text may be
presented for voting on Wednesday.

The European Union has strongly condemned Israel's conduct in Rafah,
while US President George W Bush said he was "troubled", but stressed
Israel's need for self-defence.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Israel was carrying out a
"planned massacre" of Palestinians.

"What is happening is an operation to destroy the local Palestinian
population, and this must not be accepted, not by the Palestinians,
nor the Arabs, nor by the international community," he said.

Israeli forces have killed two militants in the West Bank in recent
hours, one in Jenin and another in Nablus.