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| Middle East |
| Israeli army calls up reservists |
| 2002-06-23 |
| The Israeli army begins calling reservists troops for duty Sunday morning, Israel Radio reported Saturday. A number of reservists received call-up notices over the weekend, while other units were notified of that they will be called-up in the near future. More than one brigade will be called for duty. The soldiers will be used to assist troops already operating in Palestinian areas. Shoulda just canned the demobilization after the last time, like they'd intended to do... Meanwhile, the Israeli security cabinet decided in principle Friday in favor both of expelling the families of suicide bombers from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip, and of Palestinians involved in attacks from the territories, the Israeli media reported. That sounds like a good idea, though Burundi would be a better choice of locale... As of Sunday morning, the Israeli forces remained in at least six areas in the West Bank, where strict curfews were in force. Israeli security sources said that the current operation on the West Bank is likely to last several weeks. Israeli troops now occupy parts of Jenin, Nablus, Bitunya and Bethlehem; Israeli forces are also moving in and out of Tulkarem and Qalqilyah. Within this framework, Israeli armor moved Sunday morning into the West Bank city of Qalqilya. Palestinian witnesses said about 60 Israeli vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, pushed into the city before sunrise and took over several buildings. Had it not been for the diplo pressure, they'd have stayed last time until the job was done. The same pressure's been a little sluggish starting up this time, though it'll no doubt come. For his part, Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo charged that Israel was planning "to impose military rule through what is being called civil administration. If you refuse to do it yourselves, somebody else will do it for you. The Palestinian Authority is the best argument against anarchism I can think of. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |