Israeli Army Moves on Rafah Refugee Camp in Gaza

JERUSALEM, Tuesday, May 18 - Israeli armored bulldozers reinforced by helicopter gunships advanced early Tuesday into the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip after Israeli troops sealed the camp off for what the army called a large-scale operation to root out militants and weapons smuggling tunnels.

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Israeli officials said they planned to demolish possibly hundreds more buildings in the camp to widen the Israeli-patrolled zone on the border. But a military official said those demolitions were not a goal of the present operation.

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Gideon Meir, the deputy director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said Israel was not surrounding Rafah to demolish hundreds of buildings. He said only buildings used by militants to attack soldiers would be demolished.

Mr. Meir said news organizations were in danger of repeating what he called misleading coverage two years ago of home demolitions and Palestinian deaths during an Israeli raid into the West Bank refugee camp at Jenin.

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If Israel is really concerned about the danger of "misleading" coverage, why doesn't it invite the world's press to view the "operations" ?

Wouldn't it be better to build a "separation fence" in Rafah, or can't it prevent tunnels ?

World opinions have rarely been on the side of Israel and the security needs of Israel.

I'm sure that the IDF does not need camera men from the world's press at every step of the way. They would only endanger themselves, and no good would come of that.

I'm not sure it is the answer here, but I do not have all the facts and information about the strategic problems of the specific area.

Nah. Couldn't be. Demolish away.

often miss the complex situation. Israel is in a positron of no other country. Israel is the most affected of any others concerning the smuggling against the laws. I reject the option that the world should decide on Israel's security needs.

Imagine if American Indians had an intifada against the US to claim their land back. Would America do nothing? Would you respect their claim? Would you move for them to have your land? But American Indians have all the liberties we enjoy, right? Well so did Palestinians until the Intifada. Not much has been built in Palestine that wasn't built by Israel.

If Arafat would loosen his purse-strings, Palestine would be in alot better shape. Someone should explain "butter or guns" to him. He is sitting on billions, when he could show some of this pity he so righteously demands.