The Palestinian toll for the day was the highest in some time, and only one of the victims — a man who attacked soldiers in Gaza with a hand grenade — was a combatant.

Cabinet in Israel Endorses Seizure of the West Bank
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's security cabinet followed through on a plan for all-out seizure of the West Bank today, scrapping a tactic of intermittent raids in favor of a permanent armed presence as tense Israeli soldiers in armored columns poured into Palestinian cities, towns and refugee camps, military officials said.

The government's pledge this week to begin taking Palestinian lands "as long as terror continues," went into full swing today. Israeli tanks and troops moved into six of the eight West Bank towns designated for self-rule in the Oslo accords, with later reports of forces moving toward Hebron, one of the remaining two.

It was the largest operation since the six-week Israeli sweep through the West Bank that began in March. The Israeli radio described the action today as a "wide offensive, but smaller" than the spring operation, which at the time drew American calls for a speedy withdrawal.

Mayhem persisted throughout the day, Israeli officials and Palestinians said. At least 10 Palestinians had been killed by nightfall, among them three children who Israeli officials said were mistakenly hit with warning fire.

The Palestinian toll for the day was the highest in some time, and only one of the victims — a man who attacked soldiers in Gaza with a hand grenade — was a combatant.

Israeli settlers went on a rampage near Nablus this afternoon, Palestinian witnesses said, adding a volatile new element to the already explosive atmosphere here. Inflamed by the funeral of five in their community who were killed in a Palestinian raid on Thursday night, the settlers shot and killed a Palestinian man in a nearby Arab village.

At a fruit and vegetable market in Jenin this morning, Israeli tanks and soldiers opened up with what they said was warning fire because townspeople were violating a curfew, army and Palestinian sources said. People had poured from their homes to buy needed supplies on hearing a rumor, proved untrue, that the curfew had been lifted after three days.

Palestinian families clustered around stores, crowding to buy bread. But, Palestinian witnesses said, Israeli troops appeared and opened fire with the cannons and machine guns on their tanks, scattering the crowd, with many fathers carrying their children.

In a rare admission, the army said in a statement that it had made a mistake.

Soldiers, according to the statement, were searching house to house for an explosives lab when they "identified a group of Palestinians who broke the curfew over the city and approached the forces," adding, "The force fired two tank shells in order to deter the crowd from approaching."

"An initial inquiry indicates the force erred in its action," it said.

The army initially said three people had been killed. But Muhammad Abu Ghali, director of the Jenin Governmental Hospital, listed four: Ahmed Ghazawi, about 6, and his brother Jamil, 12, both killed by tank fire; Sajedah Famahwi, 6, and Helal Shetta, 50, both felled by bullets. Hospital workers said there were also about two dozen wounded, many of them children.

The army statement said it was investigating the incident.

Overnight Thursday in Jenin, Palestinian witnesses said, the army blew up a building during a search for bomb factories, causing a house collapse next door that killed a 14-year-old-boy identified by Palestinian medical workers as Faris Hussam as-Saadi. His parents and four other family members were injured.

In the Gaza Strip today, Palestinians said, a Palestinian hurling a hand grenade tried to rush Israeli soldiers at a border area where Palestinians gather to go to work. He was shot dead, as were two Palestinian workers standing in line.

Also in the Gaza Strip, a 10-year-old boy, identified by Palestinians as Abd al-Samed Shamlakh, was killed by a bullet to the head when Israeli troops opened fire at a group of Palestinian children and an Associated Press reporter and photographer who were watching soldiers tear down a Palestinian police post the army said had been used to fire antitank shells at their outpost.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/22/international/middleeast/22MIDE.html