10 Killed During Israeli Raids
VOA News
28 Feb 2002 14:38 UTC
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AP Photo
AP
Israeli soldier at Balata refugee camp
Israeli forces have killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded more than 90 others during assaults against two West Bank refugee camps.

Fighting erupted when Israeli troops pushed into the Balata refugee camp near Nablus and Jenin refugee camp and town early Thursday. The Israeli army says the two areas provide what it calls a terrorist infrastructure for Palestinian militants

Palestinians say Israeli shooting in Jenin has killed six policemen and a 65-year-old civilian. Gunbattles in the Balata camp have claimed the lives of two Palestinian gunmen, a civilian and an Israeli soldier. Palestinian doctors say more than 80 Palestinians are wounded in Balata. The Israeli army denies a Palestinian claim that a number of Israeli soldiers are trapped inside a school they occupied in the Balata camp.

Late Wednesday, a female Palestinian suicide bomber detonated explosives at an Israeli military roadblock in the West Bank - wounding three Israeli border police. Two Palestinians in the car with her also were wounded. Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian security commanders for the Gaza Strip met at the Erez crossing to consider ways to defuse tensions there.

In Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who is touring the region to discuss a Saudi proposal for Middle East peace. Mr. Solana says he plans to travel to Washington next week to discuss the Saudi initiative.

The Saudi proposal would offer Israel full normalization of relations in return for full withdrawal from all areas captured in the 1967 war. Many world leaders have praised the Saudi initiative as a possible way to end nearly 18 months of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed. EU officials say Crown Prince Abdullah - who is Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler, intends to present his proposal at the Arab League summit in Beirut in late March.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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