Palestinians fear the worst as Israel closes in on Gaza

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2006

BEIT HANUN, Gaza Strip (AFP) — Nine months after Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip, anxious Palestinian residents awoke to the once all-too-familiar sight of tanks and bulldozers snaking through their farmland.

"It's been a year since we last saw this," said Abdullah Abu Obeida, who watched with his wife and nine children as a line of armoured vehicles rumbled through the fields towards their town.

Israeli armour began edging into the northern Beit Hanun area early in the day as the Jewish state continued to firmly reject the demands of militant groups holding an Israeli soldier and pressed on with a military offensive against Gaza.

The tank movements came one day after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who took over the helm when Ariel Sharon sank into a deep coma...