Second day of fighting in Rafah

Sunday, 12 October 2003 4:36 AM

One Palestinian teenager was killed and at least five people were left wounded on Saturday as Israeli troops searched for smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip for a second day.

On Friday, Israel's military entered the Rafah refugee camp, near the border with Egypt, killing seven Palestinians and wounding dozens.

"Operation Root Canal" aims to destroy secret tunnels allegedly used by Palestinian militants to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt.

Israeli troops killed 19-year-old Palestinian, Zaki al-Sharif, according to officials.

Israel said Saturday it had found a third tunnel used to smuggle weapons.

Palestinian security sources said 20 Palestinian homes around the camp were destroyed early Saturday morning by Israeli forces.

Yesterday, at least 40 Israeli tanks were seen withdrawing from the camp, retreating to the Israeli-controlled border region.

The incursion into Rafah comes after Palestinian extremist group Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in the beach resort of Haifa which killed 19 Jews.

Following the Rafah assault, Islamic Jihad said in a statement: "Jihad calls on our people and on Palestinian national and Islamic factions to declare a general deployment and be ready to face the Israeli incursion in Rafah."

Separately, Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat and the newly-appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei have reached a partial agreement on security issues with Mr Qorei confirming he will head the emergency government until the end of the month, according to reports.

Mr Qorei had threatened to resign earlier this week after two days in the job.

Mr Arafat's reluctance to yield power to Mr Qurie was a major stumbling for Mr Qurie's predecessor Mahmoud Abbas.

Tags: