Additional Palestinian lives are sacrificed to the Israeli election campaign, writes Khaled Amayreh from occupied Jerusalem As the date of the Israeli elections draws near, the Israeli occupation army is stepping up its repression of the Palestinian people, killing and interning people and demolishing dozens of civilian homes. In the second week of January, the Israeli army killed more than 27 Palestinians, most of them civilians. Some 200 Palestinian youths were picked up, seemingly randomly, and taken to the notorious Ofer detention camp near Ramallah. Many in Jerusalem and the territories believe that the vast majority of the detainees are being held to break the Palestinian will to resist the occupation. The demolition of homes continued this week as Israel destroyed more than 40 dwellings -- an average of five to six homes every day. Classified as a war crime under international law, these demolitions are causing suffering to thousands of already-tormented Palestinian families who lose their lifelong investment, and suddenly find themselves in the streets, often in the quiet hours just before dawn. Most of the killings and demolitions took place on 11 and 12 January as thousands of Israeli soldiers, backed by tanks, Apache helicopters and army bulldozers rampaged through civilian neighbourhoods in the southern and northern Gaza Strip. According to eyewitnesses, as dozens of tanks rumbled to the centre of Khan Yunis shortly after midnight Saturday, Israeli Apache helicopters began strafing civilian homes and businesses with heavy machine-gun fire. Facing a hail of bullets from the sky and indiscriminate shooting from armoured personnel carriers on the ground, the terrified and defenseless Palestinians huddled inside their homes for protection, keeping away from windows and doors. At least two Palestinian civilians were reported killed, and many others wounded by flying bullets. Before departing, the invading forces dynamited more than 30 family businesses, mostly private metal workshops, the Israeli army alleged were being used to manufacture primitive missiles used by Palestinian resistance groups. The Israeli allegations are denied by the Palestinians, human rights groups and international observers operating in the area. They all stress that the real Israeli motive is to destroy Palestinian livelihoods and impoverish as many families as possible. Around sunrise, as Palestinian children were preparing to go to school, an Israeli army force attacked the Beit Hanon neighbourhood, just north of Gaza City. After imposing the routine curfew on the neighbourhood, the Israeli army dynamited the family home of Mohamed Al-Masri, an Islamic Jihad activist who was killed during a resistance operation last year. The operation ended with the Israeli force opening fire indiscriminately on Palestinians who had gone into the street to see what was going on. A middle-aged man -- a father of six children, was killed on the spot. Meanwhile, Jewish settlers murdered a Palestinian bread distributor on the outskirts of Hebron. According to eyewitnesses, settlers armed with automatic weapons and riding in a blue car stopped suddenly near 35- year-old Hazem Fanon, who was fixing a flat tyre, and after making sure that he wasn't a Jew, shot and killed him on the spot. Initially, the Israeli army released its usual disinformation, saying that the man was armed and that he had ties to Hamas. However, a few hours later the army said it would "look into the matter". Towards the evening, at least one Israeli Apache helicopter fired several missiles at a car that was travelling in the vicinity of the European Hospital, between Khan Yunis and Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The missiles missed their target, but mutilated two teenagers, Mahmoud Kawari, 16, and Abdullah Najar, 19, who were riding their bicycles nearby. Reacting to the killing, the Israeli army expressed "regret" that the missiles failed to hit the car. Four more Palestinians and two Israelis, a soldier and a settler, were also killed in two separate incidents near the Egyptian border and at a settlement near the northern West Bank. Further killings took place on 13 January in Gaza and the West Bank. Eyewitnesses speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly said Israeli troops killed two Palestinian youngsters, after having accused them of trying to attack a bus carrying Israeli settlers. Their families denied the Israeli army's claim, calling the killing a "brutal, cold- blooded crime". A third Palestinian, a boy of 12 years, died in Gaza from gunshot wounds he sustained during indiscriminate Israeli shooting on his neighbourhood at Wadi Al-Salqa, south of Gaza City. Still, a fourth Palestinian, a 24-year-old student, was assassinated in Nablus when an Israeli tank fired a shell at his home, killing him instantly and injuring his friend. Most Palestinians and many Israelis believe the spate of killing are aimed first and foremost at portraying Ariel Sharon and his party as being tough vis-à-vis the Palestinians, in what is a traditional electioneering strategy used by Israeli politicians. Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz (who played a major role in the Jenin camp massacre last April by ordering the assassination of hundreds of Palestinian political activists), alluded to this tactic this week. The army, he said, would carry out "qualitative hits" against the "terrorist infrastructure". Although Mofaz didn't elaborate, some Palestinian observers predict that the general might order the assassination of a major Palestinian political figure as an election present to Israeli voters.
