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Journalism of Courage
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in raids into Gaza on Wednesday as it faced international pressure to stick to a landmark plan to evacuate the territory voted down by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon8217;s own Likud party.
Sharon has begun consultations on how to save his scheme for 8216;8216;disengagement8217;8217; from conflict with Palestinians, which foreign mediators called a 8216;8216;rare moment of opportunity,8217;8217; but is opposed by Jewish settlers in Gaza and their rightist backers in Likud.
As Sharon brainstormed with aides and allies to redeem his US-backed plan, Israeli forces raided three Palestinian towns in Gaza in response to the killing of five settlers during Sunday8217;s Likud vote on 8216;8216;disengagement.8217;8217;
Witnesses said Israeli troops who swept into Deir Al-Balah killed a Palestinian police captain and wounded 15 people in clashes.
Military sources said another goal of the raids was to pre-empt rocket and mortar volleys into settler enclaves in Gaza, which Israel took in the 1967 West Asia war but Sharon now deems a violence-ridden liability that should be evacuated.
The US-led quartet of West Asia mediators weighed into Sharon8217;s crisis on Tuesday by declaring that his plan presented 8216;8216;a rare moment of opportunity8217;8217; for peace. 8212;Reuters
