Israeli Army Strikes at Palestinians; 7 Are Shot to Death
In a series of military strikes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians today, and soldiers blocked more than 1,000 Palestinian men and boys from returning home for a second day as the army scoured a refugee camp for wanted men.

And on the outskirts of East Jerusalem, sending up clouds of dust, the Israeli authorities used jackhammers and backhoes to crush more than a dozen Palestinian homes and other buildings that they said lacked permits. Palestinians said the permits were prohibitively expensive and difficult to obtain.

In the refugee camp, in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, the army said that on Wednesday it summoned all male residents between the ages of 15 and 45 to appear in the camp's center, where they were detained and interrogated one by one.

Those deemed innocent were placed on trucks and sent to another camp, where they were released and instructed not to return home for three days, the army said.

The army said the action would help it screen wanted men from the innocent. "If they didn't come forward, they probably have something to hide," Maj. Sharon Feingold, an army spokeswoman, said today.

Palestinians in Tulkarm said today that as many as 3,000 men and boys as young as 13 had been rounded up. They said soldiers had threatened them with punishment if they did not appear at the collection point, a girls' school.

Ramzi Abu Atiyeh, 20, said that after being interrogated, he was loaded onto a truck with about 50 others and dropped near the other camp, Nur Shams. "They dropped us there and told us not to return for three days," he said. "We didn't know what we were going to do."

He said strangers in the camp had given him a place to sleep. He and other Palestinians said roads back into their own camp had been blocked by barbed wire or soldiers.

Another man staying in Nur Shams, who gave his age as 35, said he had been forced to leave behind six children, aged 3 months to 11 years, as well as his wife, sister and mother. "My body is here, and my mind is there," he said. "My kids need their father."

He said he was reluctant to give his name for fear of Israeli reprisal, but then identified himself as Muhammad Tawfiq.

"This is a nightmare," he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/04/international/middleeast/04MIDE.html