Arab threats stop U.N. rebuilding

JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank - The United Nations suspended a construction project in this refugee camp after Palestinian gunmen threatened crews rebuilding houses destroyed by Israeli forces, a U.N. official said Thursday.

Many residents of the Jenin camp are complaining that their new houses, replacing those destroyed in Israeli incursions, are not big enough, said Sami Mshasha of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which aids Palestinian refugees.

In the most recent attack, five Palestinians from one family barged into the U.N. office in Jenin on Tuesday and opened fire with M-16 and Kalashnikov assault rifles, said Fahri Turkman, a Palestinian lawmaker.

No one was hurt, but it was the third such attack on U.N. personnel in the past six months. "We decided yesterday to freeze the construction until we can see that these irresponsible acts will not happen again," Mshasha said. U.N. officials complained to local leaders, who promised to rein in the militants, he said.

One gunman, who identified himself as Abu Maher, said he took action because the house promised to him was only half the size of the one Israeli forces destroyed. He said dissatisfaction in the camp was widespread, with some residents saying the wait for a new home was too long.

In more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Palestinian police have become increasingly ineffective - particularly in the West Bank, where Israel does not allow Palestinian officers to patrol in uniform or with arms. Filling the void are gunmen who often resort to violence to settle personal scores.

The Jenin camp, one of the most militant in the West Bank, was the scene of a fierce battle in April 2002 that left 52 Palestinian gunmen and 23 Israeli soldiers dead.

Israeli bulldozers moving down the narrow streets shaved the fronts off many buildings, leaving them uninhabitable. Hundreds of homes were reduced to rubble. The Jenin raid was part of an operation launched after 29 Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing carried out by a fighter from the camp.

As part of the reconstruction, the U.N. agency is building 430 houses with $27-million from the United Arab Emirates, Mshasha said. Seventy apartments have been built so far, and more than 1,000 damaged houses have been repaired.

At least nine alleyways have been widened to ensure that new homes lining them are not damaged by Israeli armored vehicles in the future, a U.N. worker said.

Mshasha denied this, saying the roads were widened to improve the quality of life in the cramped camp by allowing for two-way traffic and sidewalks.

Whatever the reason, many residents are unhappy with the smaller new houses.

Raed Karawi said the agency gave him an apartment of 600 square feet. "This is not enough for me and my wife to live. We will have children soon. This is not fair," he said, threatening to buy 20 old cars and block the new roads.

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