Israel demolished Palestinian houses in Gaza on Tuesday and said it would build new homes for Jewish settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron, a day after the United States announced a new Middle East peace drive.
Three Palestinians were wounded in the fresh violence in Gaza, hospital officials said, underlining the difficulties US envoys will face when they arrive in the coming days to prod peace moves forward.
Israel also said it would replace mobile homes in the Jewish settlement in divided Hebron with concrete houses, despite US Secretary of State Colin Powell's call to halt settlement construction after nearly 14 months of violence.
Palestinians condemned the Israeli decision as irresponsible and a "flagrant challenge to the American administration".
The United States said that despite the standoff it saw a new opportunity for Middle East peace after Israel and the Palestinians welcomed Powell's Middle East speech on Monday.
In Geneva, Amnesty International accused Israel of increasingly using torture in interrogating Palestinians. Israel said the practice was banned and any complaints investigated.
(China Daily November 21, 2001)
