Legal center: 55 children, 9 women among victims of the IOF Gaza massacre

[ 29/12/2008 - 10:06 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Mizan center for human rights has said that the Israeli occupation forces' ongoing raids on the Gaza Strip had inflicted hundreds of casualties including 55 children and nine women over two days.

The center in a report on Sunday said that 20 Palestinian children were killed in the Israeli air strikes while 35 others were seriously wounded. It added that nine Palestinian women were killed mostly teachers who were in schools near to targeted spots.

It underlined that the number of martyrs and wounded is expected to increase due to the fact that some of those martyrs were carried to their family homes then buried without being registered in hospitals.

The report said that preliminary reports indicate that the biggest number of victims fell in Gaza city where 118 Palestinians were killed followed by the central district where 84 were killed then northern Gaza, 25, Khan Younis, 17, and Rafah, 13, by afternoon Sunday.

Hamas: Airstrikes "organized war crime" against Palestinians

Date: 29 / 12 / 2008  Time:  11:12
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Hamas’s West Bank spokesperson Farhat Asa’ad said on Sunday that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip amounted to war crimes, according to a statement.

“What is happening in Gaza is an organized war crime in which Israel used all forms of weapons against the Palestinians,” he said.

Five Palestinian sisters killed in Israeli raid on Jabalia

Date: 29 / 12 / 2008  Time:  11:54
Gaza – Ma’an –

No sooner had a Gazan mother run away with her baby boy and two other baby girls seeking shelter did an Israeli airstrike kill her five daughters before she could return and transfer them, as well.

The girls were identified by Palestinian medical sources as Ayah, Iman, Ikram, Tahrir and Samar Ba’alousha. They were killed after an Israeli airstrike hit their family home near the Imad Aqil Mosque in Jabalia, which was subsequently destroyed.

Dozens of houses in Jabalia have been destroyed and several victims remain under debris since shortly before midnight on Saturday; Palestinian rescue workers are still trying to get them out.

Israeli air raids also killed three children from the Al-Absi family in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, as well as a brother and his sister from the Kishku family in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

On Saturday, an Israeli missile claimed the lives of seven students from a vocational training center affiliated with the United Nations on Al-Muhafadha street in Gaza City while they were waiting for a school bus to take them home.

Three other Palestinians from Al-Rayis family were killed in front of their own shop on the same street. A father and his son were later killed in the same area.

Seeking shelter for Gazan children became impossible as the strip lacks fortified places to protect Palestinians from air raids, unlike nearby Israeli towns.

On Monday, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, confirmed that at least 51 innocent civilians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since the airstrikes began on Saturday, purportedly to root out armed groups that have been firing barrages of rockets toward southern Israeli targets.

Since Saturday, two Israelis have been killed and about 20 others are injured from projectile attacks.

Gaza is the most densely populated place on the planet, with nearly 1.5 million Palestinians contained to a 20 square meter strip on the Mediterranean coast. Palestinians living in Gaza have been without food, electricity or water in their homes for several weeks.

Death toll in Gaza rises to 316; over 1,000 injured

Date: 29 / 12 / 2008  Time:  09:39
Gaza – Ma’an –

The two latest victims of Israeli occupation terrorist forces airstrikes died in the Tal Al-Za'atar and Izbat Abed Rabbo neighborhoods of the northern Gaza Strip.

The overall death toll since Saturday is 316, while about 1,000 Palestinians are estimated to be injured.

Earlier, Israeli terrorist airstrikes targeted a training field for the Hamas-affiliated Al-Qassam Brigades near Al-Buraij Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip. Parts of the camp were destroyed but no casualties were immediately reported.

A house at Al-Rimal neighborhood in the center of Gaza City was also bombarded by missiles; it stood near the de facto government's Culture Ministry building.

Israeli warships bombarded the headquarters of the Palestinian presidency on Monday morning in Gaza City.

The compound is known as Al-Muntada. No casualties were immediately reported in that attack.

According to Mu'awiya Hassanain, the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 316.

Several dead and injured are reportedly still under the debris of collapsed buildings.

Israeli air forces launched on Sunday night and Monday morning several sorties against targets in the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring several people including women and children.

In Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes destroyed a mosque, killing at least seven people. In another sortie on a house in Jabalia, five people from the Ba’alousha family were killed, including children.

Israeli forces also fired after midnight several missiles at the girls' dormitory in the Islamic University in Tal Al-Hawa in southern Gaza City. Eyewitnesses said they heard five missiles fired from what they believed was an F16 warplane.

Another airstrike targeted Gaza's port, severely damaging it.

Two people were killed in a strike on a car in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip and a terminal used for fishermen in the north.

Meanwhile, a mosque in Jabalia called Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq was destroyed and initial news reports indicated that there are casualties.


***Updated 13:51 Bethlehem time

Death toll rises to 310 as strikes level presidential headquarters

Date: 29 / 12 / 2008  Time:  10:40
Gaza - Ma'an -

Israeli warships bombarded the headquarters of the Palestinian presidency on Monday morning in Gaza City.

The compound is known as Al-Muntada. No casualties were immediately reported in that attack.

According to Mu'awiya Hassanain, the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 310.

One Israeli killed, 14 others injured as projectiles land in Negev

Date: 29 / 12 / 2008  Time:  10:19
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies –

One Israeli was killed and 14 others were injured after a Grad missile launched from the Gaza Strip struck a construction site in Ashkelon.

According to Israeli ambulance services, most of the workers in the construction site are Palestinians. Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz said the wounded are Palestinian construction workers from the Galilee village of Manda.

Five were reported seriously injured, four are in moderate condition and another five suffered light injuries.

Later, eight more homemade projectiles landed in different parts of Ashkelon. No casualties have been reported in those attacks.

In Sderot, five projectiles landed without causing injuries other than shock. One home was directly hit in Sderot.

Four others landed in various towns in the western Negev. Palestinians have fired 17 projectiles at Israeli sites on Monday, according to Israeli news reports and statements from militants.

***Updated 12:18 Bethlehem time

Fresh Israeli Strike Kills Five Sisters

Monday December 29, 2008 05:07 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli occupation terrorist army is still ongoing with its offensive against the residents of the Gaza Strip.  A recent air raid killed on Monday at dawn five sisters, all children, increasing th death toll since Saturday to more than 305 Palestinians, nearly 1000 have also been wounded.

Palestinian medical sources reported that the Israeli Army shelled the house of Anwar Ba’alousha, in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, killing five sisters, all children, while the rest of their family remain under the rubble, others were hospitalized.

The sources added that the daughters of Anwar Ba’alousha “are now at the morgue and under the rubble”.

Rescue teams and medics managed to locate the bodies of Sama, 4, and Samar, 24 months, and later on located the bodies of the three other sisters who remained unidentified until the time of this report.

The Israeli navy shelled on Monday at dawn a house next to the house of Hamas leader, Prime Minister of the dissolved government, Ismail Janiyya. 

The Israeli army did not exempt any area from the shelling, and targeted Hamas security centers, police stations, mosques, universities and civilians constructions. The Israeli army also shelled the Rafah Municipality, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.  

Meanwhile, the Hamas movement and its military wings called on all factions and armed groups in Gaza to strike back to avenge the Israeli assaults and protect the Palestinian people.

According to Israeli online daily Haaretz,  senior Hamas leaders threatened to assassinate senior Israeli officials.

Haaretz added that Fattah Hamad, one of Hamas leaders, threatened that Hamas would assassinate the Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, and Israel Defense Minister, Ehud Barak.

Hamad added that Hamas would also target senior Palestinian Authority officials in the West Bank and “other leaders in the Arab World who are conspiring against the Palestinian people”, Haaretz reported.  Haaretz failed to mention that the assasination of Palestinian political leaders has been official Israeli policy for decades.

Meanwhile, Israel is still preparing for an ongoing and even bloodier offensive as its military leadership called up nearly 6,500 reserve soldiers.

On Sunday, Israel said that it managed to destroy 40 tunnels linking Rafah and Egypt.

Bassim Naim, the Palestinian Minister of Health of the dissolve government in Gaza, said that the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which started on Saturday, lead to the deaths of more than 305 Palestinians, and at least 1000 Palestinians have been wounded, 180 of the wounded are in critial condition.

Dozens of residents are believed to be buried under the rubble of shelled homes and constructions.

Naim added that 105 types of medicines, 225 types of medical supplies and 93 materials used by labs can not be found in Gaza.

50% of the ambulances in the Gaza Strip are not running as they need spare parts not found in the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing Israel siege.  

Five More Palestinians Killed, 303 Killed and Over 1000 Wounded Since Saturday

Saed Bannoura; IMEMC & Agencies, Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:45:15

Palestinian sources reported on Sunday that the Israeli occupation terrorist air forces shelled several areas in different part of the Gaza Strip killing five Palestinians and wounding several residents. The death toll of the Israeli offensive which started on Saturday stands now at 303 while at least 1000 residents were wounded, 180 seriously.

The Arabs48 news website reported that the Israeli terrorist air forces shelled a blacksmith workshop and a house in Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, killing a man and a woman.

In Al-Nussairat, the Israeli Army shelled a vehicle killing two Palestinians, medical sources said.

Also, the Israeli Air Force shelled the border area between Gaza and Egypt in Rafah.

Two more Palestinians were killed and at least 22 were wounded when the Israeli occupation terrorist army shelled tunnels along the Egyptian-Palestinian border area.

Eyewitnesses reported that hundreds of residents flocked to the border area between Gaza and Egypt in an attempt to escape the Israeli shelling, but the Egyptian border guard forces opened fired at them, killing one child and wounding several other residents.

The Israeli Army fired at least 20 missiles at the Egyptian-Palestinian border area, which contains dozes of tunnels and destroyed at least 50 of the underground tunnels leading from Gaza to Egypt. Some of the shelled tunnels were used to provide Gaza with fuel.

At Least Four More Palestinians Killed in New Israeli Strike in Gaza, Death toll; 286

Sunday December 28, 2008 11:50, by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

 The Israeli Air Force shelled on Sunday morning a Palestinian security compound in Gaza that includes a prison, and other security centers. At least four Palestinians were killed, and several others were wounded. The number of casualties of the ongoing Israeli offensive since Friday has reached a total of 286, including many women and children.

The bombarded center is an old modified building that was used by the British troop during the era of the British Occupation in Palestine. The building, known as Al Saraya includes government offices, security offices and a prison.

The number of casualties is most likely to increase as there are more Palestinians buried under the rubble. Shortly before the center was shelled, the Israeli air force shelled Jabalia and a target in northern Gaza, killing two Palestinians and wounding several others.

This latest Israeli offensive started at noon on Saturday; at least 286 Palestinians have been killed and more than 900 wounded. The number of casualties is expected to increase, especially since dozens of wounded Palestinians are in critical condition, and the siege has already drained Gaza hospitals of basic medical supplies.

Dozens of civilian homes and facilities as well as the police headquarters and civil society institutions were also shelled.

On Sunday morning, the Israeli Army shelled a medical storage facility in Rafah, and a truck carrying fuel. At least three were killed and several others were wounded.