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Thousands of Palestinians Flee Rafah, Home Demolitions Increase

HeadlineMay 17, 2004

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing the Rafah refugee camp today in southern Gaza fearing a massive Israel strike and more home demolitions. Israel has announced plans to cut off Rafah, which sits on the Egyptian border, from the rest of Gaza and demolish hundreds of more Palestinian homes. On Friday, the United Nations reported 88 homes in Rafah were leveled leaving more than 1,000 Palestinians homeless. 2,200 Palestinians have now been left homeless this month alone in Gaza. The demolitions stopped for a brief time this weekend as the Israeli Supreme Court heard an appeal from Palestinians but the court ruled the army could legally go ahead with the demolitions which have been widely criticized by the international community. Amnesty International is expected to release a report later this week charging that the house demolitions are a form of international war crimes. And On Saturday U.S. Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell said “we oppose the destruction of homes, we don’t think that it is productive.”

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