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Smoke billows during an Israeli raid on the Nur Shams camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on April 20, 2024. Zain Jaafar, AFP

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Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17216959205391721695916548.jpeg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Smoke billows during an Israeli raid on the Nur Shams camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on April 20, 2024. <em>Zain Jaafar, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p style="text-align:left">LONDON — Britain accused Israel of allowing its troops to run &quot;out of control&quot; during a huge military operation in the occupied West Bank two decades ago, UK government archives showed Tuesday.</p><p>The newly-released files highlight Western concern over the Palestinian death toll during Operation Defensive Shield launched by then-Israeli premier Ariel Sharon in March 2002.</p><p>The comments are similar to concerns expressed by some Western allies over Israel&#x27;s current military operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.</p><p>Britain&#x27;s ambassador to Israel at the time warned Sharon&#x27;s foreign policy adviser that the incursion by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was a &quot;major strategic mistake&quot; which was undermining support for Israel among its allies.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/7/20/israeli-occupation-of-palestinian-territory-illegal-un-top-court-940">RELATED: Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory &#x27;illegal&#x27; — UN top court</a></div><p>&quot;If some of the reports we were receiving were credible, the IDF&#x27;s behavior was more worthy of the Russian army than that of a supposedly civilized country,&quot; Sherard Cowper-Coles told the adviser, according to his report of the meeting.</p><p>&quot;I was not suggesting that such behavior was a matter of policy. But there was no doubt that individual soldiers were out of control and committing acts which were outraging international opinion,&quot; the diplomat added.</p><p>The operation came amid the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which occurred between 2000 and 2005.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/01/06/24/west-bank-sees-unmatched-surge-in-israeli-settlements-since-gaza-war-ngo">READ: West Bank sees &#x27;unmatched surge&#x27; in Israeli settlements since Gaza war — NGO</a></div><p>Sharon launched the operation in the West Bank after a wave of suicide attacks claimed dozens of Israeli lives.</p><p>The Israeli military surrounded the compound of then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah.</p><p>Troops cut off phone lines and power supplies, while intense street-to-street fighting raged for eight days further north in the Jenin refugee camp.</p><div><strong>Bush concern</strong></div><p>The offensive was at the time the largest military operation in the Palestinian territories since Israel captured them in 1967.</p><p>Then-US president George W. Bush complained in private call with UK prime minister Tony Blair that the hardline policies of Sharon were turning Arafat into a martyr similar to 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, the files show.</p><p>&quot;While Arafat had effectively been marginalizing himself, Sharon had succeeded in making a martyr of him — building him up to the point where he was becoming the new bin Laden,&quot; Bush complained, according to a note of the call by the then-UK leader&#x27;s office.</p><p>&quot;The US had tried to persuade Sharon privately, but he just would not listen. The bottom line was that Sharon was undermining the US&#x27;s ability to pursue the war on terrorism. That was not the action of a good ally,&quot; the note added.</p><p>Operation Defensive Shield lasted just over a month and resulted in the deaths of about 500 Palestinians, according to estimates by the United Nations.</p><p>Israel&#x27;s current war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas&#x27;s October 7 attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/7/21/defiant-netanyahu-to-face-us-congress-amid-gaza-tensions-1007">READ: Defiant Netanyahu to face US Congress amid Gaza tensions<br/></a></div><p>Militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44 the Israeli military says are dead.</p><p>Israel&#x27;s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 39,006 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uANks6dFpzY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>The newly-released files highlight Western concern over the Palestinian death toll during Operation Defensive Shield launched by then-Israeli premier Ariel Sharon in March 2002.</p>

The newly-released files highlight Western concern over the Palestinian death toll during Operation Defensive Shield launched by then-Israeli premier Ariel Sharon in March 2002.

UK warned Israel over 'out of control' troops in 2002 — archives

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UK warned Israel over 'out of control' troops in 2002 — archives

Agence France-Presse

Published July 23, 2024 08:52 AM PHT

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Updated July 23, 2024 12:25 PM PHT

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Israel

Palestine

West Bank

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