Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Israeli army levels 9-home Gaza town Date: Wed, 25 Nov 92 16:20:05 EST Message-ID: Lines: 84 \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Israeli army levels 9-home Gaza town \BY Jim Ron \CR ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT KLIZAN AN-NAJAR, Occupied Gaza Strip KLIZAN AN-NAJAR, Occupied Gaza Strip - The Israeli army did not leave much of Masoud Najar's house. A charred door dangles from a hinge. Splinters are all that remain of chairs, and everywhere are scraps of clothing and rubble. Mr. Najar's house was the worst damaged in this tiny hamlet when Israeli soldiers ordered residents from their homes and opened fire on all nine dwellings in an effort to flush out wanted Palestinians. The home where Mr. Najar lived with 20 relatives looks like it was dynamited or hit by a rocket. The others, all one- or two-story buildings, bear scars from grenades, smaller rockets and thousands of bullets that smashed through the cheap concrete. The army said the operation was "carried out on the basis of prior information regarding the presence of armed men in the area." But it said no armed men were found after several hours of firing. The villagers of Klizan an-Najar, near Khan Yunis, said they never understood what was happening when they were ordered from their homes Nov. 13. But the near-destruction of the village appears to signal a new tactic in the army's effort to stop Palestinian militants from attacking soldiers and killing Arabs suspected of collaborating with Israel. The method has been used at least once since, on a single house in the Gaza Strip. Military officials said the new strategy was adopted after three soldiers were killed storming houses where armed Palestinians were hiding. The Jerusalem Post newspaper said the new policy permits soldiers to fire anti-tank missiles at suspected hideouts after civilians are ordered out. It quoted an unidentified army officer as saying, "We have decided not to storm the buildings so as not to risk the lives of our soldiers or civilians inside." An army statement said that in Klizan an-Najar, troops opened fire after twice over loudspeakers ordering civilians to leave. The statement said that when troops entered the buildings, they "cleared" rooms with gunfire. "It could certainly be possible that . . . property was damaged," the army said. Mr. Najar's one-story house is not habitable. The others are standing, but all their appliances are smashed. It is hard to find a window or door in one piece. The villagers, most of them members of the extended Najar family, say they were never told why. "We were awakened at 6:30 a.m. by neighbors. They said the soldiers announced that anyone who stayed in the house would die," said Mr. Najar, crouched near a makeshift tent where his family now lives. "Over 200 of us walked together for hundreds of yards across the fields," said Widad an-Najar, 19. "After about 100 yards, a loudspeaker ordered us to raise our hands. Some of us women couldn't obey because we were holding the babies." Attiya an-Najar, 42, said the soldiers separated the village's more than 50 men from the rest, tied their hands behind their backs and ordered all except the elderly to lie with their faces down. The army gave the number of villagers as 50 to 60, including 20 men who were handcuffed during the raid. "After a first investigation, most of the men were released, while some were arrested on suspicion that they helped wanted people," the statement said. All the detainees were released, it said. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM