& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Defiant Israel ups Gaza offensive

UNSC adopts resolution condemning killing

REUTERS, Rafah, Gaza Strip
Defiant Israel ups Gaza offensive
Defying international fury and a rare US rebuke, Israel expanded its bloodiest Gaza Strip raid in years yesterday after killing 39 Palestinians in three days of fighting in the Rafah refugee camp.
Tensions in the region rose further after a Tel Aviv court convicted Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouthi of mastermind-
ing killings of Israelis and accused President Yasser Arafat of giving broad approval for attacks.
Israel's justice minister issued a threat to put Arafat on trial one day. Barghouthi is second in popularity only to Arafat among Palestinians and is seen as a potential successor.
The UN Security Council urged an end to violence after Israeli
forces killed 10 Palestinians at a peaceful protest on Wednesday. The Council convened at the behest of Arabs incensed at what they branded a "war crime."
Reflecting its displeasure, the United States, Israel's chief ally, allowed adoption of the UN resolution by abstaining rather than using its veto. President Bush urged
®he ^aSy ^tar
restraint from the Jewish state.
Senior US officials kept up pressure with phone calls to Israeli counterparts, urging Israel to wrap up the three-day-old raid as quickly as possible, an Israeli political source said.
Israeli commentators predicted Israel would soon comply. "Time is running out," read a headline in the Jerusalem Post.
But the army, which stormed the Rafah camp after losing 13 soldiers in Gaza ambushes last week, forged ahead yesterday.
Troops pushed into Rafah districts on the border with Egypt, where the army says it is searching for tunnels used to smuggle weapons for a Palestinian revolt since 2000.
Overnight helicopter strikes killed three militants and two other men, witnesses said. The army said it struck gunmen. Witnesses said soldiers shot dead a 39-year-old man on his roof. The army said troops "spotted a terrorist and shot him."
International outrage reached a crescendo on Wednesday when Israeli tanks and helicopters fired toward protesters marching to demand humanitarian aid. Medics said 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 50 hurt, many of them young people.
"It was horrifying," said demonstrator Mahmoud Abu Hashem, 35. "There was one person with his intestines coming out."
Troops said they did not aim to hit the rally, but tank fire intended to repel protesters might have caused casualties.
Violence has spiked since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon proposed evacuating troops and Jewish settlers in a plan backed by most Israelis and the United States, but rejected by his right-wing Likud party in a referendum this month.