The IDF carried out a series of operations against the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip over the weekend in retaliation for Wednesday's attack on the IDF's Africa outpost near Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, in which four soldiers were killed, and the recent attempt to smuggle in arms from Iran on the Karine A.

In successive days beginning on Thursday, the army razed dozens of structures in the Rafiah refugee camp, tore up the runway at Gaza International Airport in Dahaniya, and attacked various PA naval police installations in the Gaza port.

In Saturday's operation, IDF gunboats destroyed a command center and storage facilities of the PA naval police, and sunk a patrol boat and the cargo ship Gindallah. The Gindallah was reportedly once under the command of Omar Akawi, the captain of the Karine A. IDF sources defended the attack as an effort to prevent any future attempts by the PA to smuggle in weapons from the sea.

At the Israel-Egypt border near Rafiah, the army destroyed a tunnel it said was being used to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. Eight Palestinians suspected of being involved in weapons smuggling to PA-controlled areas were arrested, and the road between Rafiah and Khan Yunis was cut off.

The IDF Spokesperson charged that the tunnel was operated by families living close to the border and was dug beneath their properties. PA security officials were aware of the tunnel, but did nothing to prevent smuggling into areas under their control, the Spokesperson added.

The IDF's ploughing of the Gaza airport runway was the second such action in the last two months. Palestinian sources called the action "ridiculous," since the head of the IDF Southern Command, Maj.-Gen. Doron Almog, had authorized the runway's repair himself in a security meeting two weeks ago with senior Palestinian officers. Sources in Jerusalem said that Almog acted without authorization when he approved the repair, Haaretz reported.

Two sides cite conflicting demolition figures
Palestinians charged that some 70 homes were bulldozed by the IDF in the Rafiah refugee camp, leaving over 700 families homeless. The United Nations reported that 54 homes were demolished and 511 people were left without homes, according to the Associated Press.

The IDF disputed the figures. "Twenty-one buildings were demolished, and they have been uninhabited for the past three months," Almog said in a televised interview on Friday. "Palestinians used these buildings to carry out daily shooting attacks against IDF soldiers operating in the area, and also detonated five bombs (from the buildings) in the past month."

Almog said that the demolitions were in retaliation for the fatal Hamas attack on the Africa outpost. Since then, "most of our operations have focused on the Rafiah area, as that is where the two Hamas terrorists came from, under the command of Salah Shahada, one of [Hamas spiritual leader] Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's deputies," he said.

In a conflicting report, an IDF spokesman denied a direct link between the Africa outpost attack and the area chosen for demolition, Haaretz reported. The spokesman said the plan for destroying the houses had been drawn up several weeks ago but had been shelved due to the relative calm in the Gaza Strip over the past few weeks.

Demolitions draw domestic opposition
Several Labor Party ministers harshly criticized the Rafiah demolitions. Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh and Science and Culture Minister Matan Vilnai both emphasized the damage the operation had inflicted on Israel's image abroad. Sneh said he planned to raise the issue at the weekly cabinet meeting.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Israel Radio that house demolitions should only be a "last-resort" measure, while opposition leader Yossi Sarid (Meretz) argued that the action would deepen hatred among Palestinians.

"Once again the impression that the IDF was not precise regarding the information that it disclosed has been made,'' Sarid said. ''Later on we wonder why Israeli public relations have failed again. An untrustworthy government based on a lie will never succeed in explaining aggressive behavior towards civilians."

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said in the cabinet meeting that if it turns out that the demolished structures in Rafiah were indeed inhabited, he would consider sending caravans to the camp, ynet reported.

Palestinian organizations to appeal to UN following Israeli "war crimes"
Human rights organizations and the PA's Ministry of Planning said on Saturday that they would submit evidence to the United Nations and the international war crimes tribunal seeking charges against Almog.

A statement issued by the group accused Almog of being responsible for the murder of Palestinians and violating the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, and ordering the collective punishment of civilians in Rafiah.

PA officials also condemned comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell calling Israel's destruction of the Dahaniya runway "a defensive action."

"This can never be called self-defense,'' PA Sec.-Gen Ahmed Abdel Rahman said, ''this is a real war against the Palestinian people and the Palestinian National Authority."

IDF takes initiative in arresting suspected militants in territories
In separate operations in the West Bank and Gaza on Friday, the IDF arrested 12 Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist activities. Soldiers from elite paratrooper and Haruv units entered the Palestinian-controlled village of Ibba, west of Nablus, and arrested Hamas activist Omar Shitawi, transferring him to the Shin Bet for interrogation.

According to Palestinian reports, the IDF also arrested Bashir Hussein Shamiya, said to be affiliated with the Islamic Jihad, in the nearby village of Deir Sharf. In Silwad, northeast of Ramallah, soldiers from the Duhifat unit detained two Fatah activists suspected of shooting at Israeli vehicles in the area. Lastly, shots were fired at an IDF post on Mount Gerizim and army sappers detonated a bomb discovered near Nebi Elias, east of Kalkilya.

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