Thousands of Palestinians marked the second anniversary of their uprising against Israeli occupation with marches and rallies on Saturday. In telephone remarks broadcast to a Gaza City rally, Yasser Arafat shrugged off the Israeli siege on his Ramallah compound and promised that "noble Jerusalem will remain the capital of the Palestinian state whether anybody wants it or not."
"We are not only defending our holy places, Christian and Islamic, but every inch of our holy land," Arafat said.
Fatah movement issued a statement Saturday, calling on the Palestinian people to continue its uprising. "This nation knows only one language: self-defence and no surrender."
Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin vowed there would be no let-up in the intifada. "The military operations and the mortar operations will continue and will escalate because this is the only weapons we have and this enemy understands only the language of force," he told AFP.
Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the Gaza Strip.
A 25-year-old Palestinian man was killed by Israeli machine-gunfire early Saturday when he stepped out of his house in the Rafah refugee camp, his cousin said. According to AP, the man was a supporter of Fatah movement, but was not armed, relatives said.
Meanwhile, doctors at Shifa Hospital said that Mohammed Abu Ahoueh, 19, was shot in the head and killed while throwing stones in clashes near the Netzarim settlement in the Gaza Strip. The military said demonstrators had neared an army post and "the soldiers were forced to fire to protect themselves."
U.S.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Friday condemned Israel's attempted assassination Thursday of Hamas military wing leader Mohammed Deif, saying the United States was opposed to Israel's policy of assassinations and the use of heavy arms in the midst of urban areas.
"We are against targeted killings. We are against the use of heavy weaponry in urban areas, even when it comes to people like Mohammad Deif, who have been responsible for the deaths of American citizens."
"Anyone responsible for terror and violence needs to be brought to justice but operations such as those conducted in Gaza endanger civilian lives, inflame tensions and hinder our efforts for peace," the spokesman told a daily briefing.
Israeli security sources estimated Friday that Deif had not been killed in the attempted assassination, and had been moderately injured. The sources went on to say that it appeared that Deif sustained a head wound and lost an eye in the attack, Haaretz reported. (Albawaba.com)
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