May 16, 2004, 10:15
Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, says America opposed Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in a Gaza refugee camp and called for an end to the current cycle of violence.
"We know that Israel has a right for self-defence but the kind of action they are taking in Rafah with the destruction of Palestinian homes, we oppose," Powell told a news conference in Jordan. "The United States is anxious to do everything it can to stop this cycle of strike and counter strike which has resulted in the loss of so many lives in the last week."
Israel's Supreme Court today lifted its temporary ban on the demolition of homes in Rafah where the army plans to widen a flashpoint corridor it controls along the Egyptian border.
Israeli political sources say dozens or even hundreds of Palestinian homes in Rafah, on the edge of the "Philadelphi" buffer zone, would be razed to widen the corridor and give soldiers more protection from attack by militants. Palestinian militants killed 13 Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip this week, dealing the army its heaviest casualties since 2002. Twenty-nine Palestinians, militants and civilians, were killed during fierce fighting. - Reuters
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