Thousands Return to Gaza After Israeli Attack Kills 50
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Thousands of people surged back into the Gazan town of Beit Hanoun yesterday, minutes after Israeli tanks withdrew following a bloody incursion in which more than 50 Palestinian Arabs, including at least a dozen civilians, were killed.
Tractors slowly pushed aside earth mounds built by Israeli combat engineers to block approach roads, and when the roadway was passable, locals reclaimed a town that for six days had been cut off from the rest of the northern Gaza Strip. Dozens of buildings in the center of town were battle-damaged, and it appeared as if every road had been carved up by tank tracks, leaving broken water mains and sewage pipes.
In the town center, the 700-year-old Nassir Mosque was almost completely destroyed, its fire-damaged, green minaret the only part of the structure still standing after Israeli bulldozers tore the building down. Israel said dozens of gunmen hid in the mosque, provoking a gunfight, although some locals disputed this version.
The 73-year-old local tribal chief, Mohammed Ayub Kafarneh, said: “The Israelis said they wanted to punish those firing rockets, but look at the damage they have caused. Nobody fires rockets from this town center, but that does not stop the Israeli punishing us, the innocent ones.”
Israel pronounced itself satisfied with “Operation Autumn Rains,” which was designed to neutralize Palestinian Arab militants using the Beit Hanoun area to fire rockets into Israel, just a few miles due east.
It said it had searched the town and uncovered large weapons caches and had detained dozens of Palestinian Arabs suspected of involvement in military activities.
Gunfire returned to the streets of Beit Hanoun by the afternoon, but it was from gunmen marking the funerals of the many militants killed during the operation.
Overhead, Qassam rockets could be seen above the town, heading toward Israel. Militants were reported to have hit the Israeli town of Ashkelon with five rockets, without causing injury.
The strike, seven miles over the border, came as a further 10 Palestinian Arabs were said to have died in clashes with the military in surrounding areas.