Israeli attacks on militants leave families homeless

Abd Al-Rahman Assad was moving what was left of his furniture out of the ruins of his home yesterday. To get from the street to the house, he had to step over a concrete floor hanging over a steep drop.

On the ground lay the smashed fragments of his television; in the corner, broken bits of tables and chairs.

The Israeli army arrived and destroyed the house in the middle of the night ­ one of four homes in Bethlehem it demolished yesterday because, it said, they belonged to the families of suicide bombers and other militants.

The Israeli authorities say would-be bombers will be discouraged by the prospect of their families ending up homeless. But Mr Assad said he and his family had nothing to do with militants. It was just their misfortune they happened to live next door to a suicide bomber's family.

"The soldiers promised me they would not damage my house," Mr Assad said. But they used heavy explosives, and Mr Assad's house was wrecked as well.

Violence continued in the region even as Palestinian officials were talking with the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice ­ the first contact since President George Bush announced America would not deal with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

In the Gaza Strip, a 17-year-old boy died after he was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers. Witnesses said a crowd of Palestinian children threw stones at tanks that had stormed the village of Beit Lahiya. Three tanks and a bulldozer charged the crowd, and soldiers opened fire. Palestinians said the youth had not been throwing stones, only riding his bicycle.

In Jerusalem, talks between Palestinian and Israeli officials stuttered along on an Israeli proposal to pull troops out of Gaza if the Palestinian Authority rooted out militants.

Meanwhile, in Bethlehem, Mr Assad and his family were moving in with neighbours. Wael abu Swa'i, the 20-year-old son of the suicide bomber, said the Israeli soldiers gave him and his family 25 minutes to get what furniture they could out of the house, then they started laying explosives.

The family put the furniture 300 feet away, where, Mr abu Swa'i said, the army destroyed it anyway. The demolition would not stop suicide attacks, he said. "I wish my father had done much more."

Palestinian militant groups often provide new homes for families of suicide bombers whose houses are destroyed by Israel. Neighbours such as Mr Assad and his family are unlikely to be so lucky.

Nor is Faiz Khawaja, a car mechanic who lost his family business when the Israelis destroyed a house in Bethlehem that had been rented only a few days ago by Yehiya Da'amseh, a militant with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

Mr Khawaja had nothing to do with Mr Da'amseh. Neighbours said they didn't even know he had moved there. It was just Mr Khawaja's misfortune that his garage happened to be under that house.

A crumpled car lay amid the ruins. It had been brought in by neighbours to be fixed, Mr Khawaja said. The Israeli soldiers, who had arrived at 3am with bulldozers, had only let him and his family remove their own car.

The business supported the families of both Mr Khawaja and his brother. Now, he said, they have no money. The ruins of the building, he added, contained equipment worth 100,000 shekels (£13,000).