IDF RAZES PALESTINIAN HEADQUARTERS IN HEBRON

Jerusalem Post ^ | June 29, 2002

[Clive]

With a pair of thunderous nighttime explosions, the

IDF on Saturday destroyed the hulking Palestinian municipal and security headquarters in Hebron.

Mystery surrounded the fate of about a dozen armed Palestinians that Israel said were holed up inside.

The two controlled explosions ended the four-day siege and left mounds of smoldering rubble where the four-story building had stood on a hilltop overlooking Hebron.

IDF soldiers moved through the debris Saturday looking for bodies, but as of Saturday afternoon, had found only weapons and ammunition, military sources said. About a dozen soldiers walked through the rubble and guarded the site, while a pair of bulldozers tore down the few remaining walls that survived the explosions.

More than 100 Palestinians came out of the building during the siege, many of them police officers. The army said arrested about 20 wanted men, and let the rest go. But Israel insisted that 12 to 15 wanted Palestinians militants were still inside as of Friday.

Palestinians inside last fired on army positions early Friday morning, but then the shooting stopped, the army said. A Palestinian Cabinet minister was allowed to go into the building later Friday to try to negotiate a surrender.

The minister, Talal Sidr, said he couldn't find anyone inside, but that he was unable to search all of the large, heavily damaged building. The army said afterward it was certain that the armed men were still inside.

"There's nothing called the headquarters anymore," Mohammed Maswadeh, a Palestinian who lives near the compound, said Saturday. His windows, like many others within yards of the blast site, were blown out.

The first blast, set off late Friday night, sent sparks into the sky and brought down about a quarter of the building, Palestinian witnesses said. The IDF said it rigged the part of the headquarters where it believed the wanted men were still hiding.

Apache attack helicopters circled overhead after the first explosion. Smoke and fire could be seen from a ground-floor corner of the building, with flames shooting up the side of the building before dying down.

The army "detonated in a controlled manner a part of the building where wanted Palestinians were taking refuge and refused to turn themselves in," and IDF statement said, released before the second blast.

The second explosion, at around 3 a.m. local time Saturday, was even more powerful and brought down virtually all that was left of the building.

Troops surrounded the Hebron compound early Tuesday as part of a West Bank military offensive that has confined some 700,000 Palestinians to their homes while soldiers search the West Bank for Palestinians suspected of links to deadly attacks on Israelis.

The open-ended campaign, prompted by twin suicide bus bombings that killed 26 Israelis, began a week and a half ago. Israel has raided seven of the eight major Palestinian cities in the West Bank.

The Hebron compound, used in the past as a base for British, Jordanian and Israeli forces, had housed offices of the Palestinian Authority's local governor and security forces.

Even before the explosions, the building had been badly damaged by missile and heavy machine-gun fire as well as military bulldozers as the army tried to force out those inside.

Maswadeh, the Palestinian living near the compound, compared the second blast to an earthquake, saying everything in his house shook: "I'd never seen an explosion like that. The cars nearby blew into the air and dropped down."

Ibrahim Shehadeh, another resident in the area, used to have a view of the headquarters. "Now, I can see everything from my house -- the whole of Hebron," he said.

While operating in the Hebron area, soldiers have found an explosives lab containing belts ready for use in suicide bombing missions, the army said. More than 50 suspects from Palestinian security forces had been arrested throughout Hebron, the army added.

Since Tuesday, more than 120 members of the Palestinian Authority security forces in the building have surrendered, including 40 wanted fugitives and a member of Hizbullah. Some of those who surrendered disguised themselves as members of the PA Police.

While operating in the Hebron area, soldiers have also found an explosives lab containing belts ready for use in suicide bombing missions, the army said.

(With The Associated Press)

[Clive]

Now for Ramallah.

[BrooklynGOP]

Ibrahim Shehadeh, another resident in the area, used to have a view of the headquarters. "Now, I can see everything from my house -- the whole of Hebron," he said.

Excellent! His property value just went up.

[Un669]

Way to go IDF, kill those terrorist bastards one by one, you don't need to apologize, but you will need to if you keep giving them this luxury called life.

[dighton]

"I'd never seen an explosion like that.
The cars nearby blew into the air and dropped down."

"It blowed up good!".................."It blowed up REAL good!"