london cleric convicted for soliciting murder in s, page-2

By Nidal al-Mughrabi in Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip
February 25 2003

"We hold Israel fully responsible for this escalation," said Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator.

Israeli armoured columns backed by helicopter gunships rumbled into the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun shortly after midnight on Sunday, fighting gunmen, destroying the homes of six Islamic militants and tearing up roads.

Palestinian sources said six Palestinians were killed in Beit Hanoun, including four gunmen, members of the Palestinian security forces and one stone-thrower.

A seventh Palestinian, armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and hand grenades, was killed during an attempt to infiltrate the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in central Gaza, the army said.

In Khan Younis refugee camp to the south, a Palestinian gunman shot dead a soldier at a nearby base. Troops later killed a 15-year-old in a Khan Younis playground.

Hamas has fired dozens of the missiles into Israel from Beit Hanun, provoking bloody raids and sparking fears Israel could launch a full-scale reoccupation of the densely populated Gaza Strip.


Officers redirected aid money: report

Israeli Air Force officers allegedly used dummy corporations and other ruses to redirect United States aid money from US to Israeli companies in the 1990s.

The claim, made on Israel's Channel Two television station on Sunday, did not say how much money was involved. It said the practice came to light in a ruling on a civil court case in Tel Aviv district court.

The officers placed orders with companies without the knowledge of the air force command and the defence ministry, converting aid money to shekels for the benefit of Israeli companies, the report quoted the judge as saying.

An Israeli defence ministry spokeswoman denied the report.

Israel receives about $US2 billion ($3.35 billion) a year in military assistance from the US. Most of it is for spending in the US, "and not from Israeli companies through indirect methods or dummy corporations, as they tried to do in this case," said Tel Aviv judge Amnon Strashnov, a former chief military prosecutor.