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freepalestine
20th March 2011, 18:53
Israeli army kills 2 teenagers in Gaza
Published today (updated) 20/03/2011 19:33
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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The bodies of two Gaza teenagers were retrieved by Palestinian medics late Sunday morning, after being killed by Israeli fire some 12 hours earlier in the border area east of Gaza City.

Medical crews said they were only permitted to access the site, east of Juhor Addik and north of the Al-Bureij refugee camp, when they got a call advising them of the deaths Sunday morning.

The bodies were taken to the Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where they were identified as Imad Farajallah, 17, and Qasim Salah Iteiwa, 17, both from the An-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said Sunday that soldiers fired at two men approaching the Gaza Strip's border with Israel. The army official told Ma'an that forces identified a hit, but she could not confirm that they were killed.

However, the Israeli daily Haaretz and Israeli news site Ynet reported on Saturday night that both men were killed, quoting a military spokesperson. The reports came out hours before medics were notified.

Palestinian medical sources told Ma'an on Sunday morning that they had not yet received any information from Israeli officials about the attack.

Israeli authorities usually inform Palestinian medics about such incidents through liaison officers, medical officials added.

Israeli forces are on high alert near the borders with the Gaza Strip after Palestinian resistance fighters launched over 50 mortar shells and homemade projectiles across the border on Saturday.

Ma'an's reporter said Israeli military tanks struck targets near the borders in the northern and central Gaza Strip late on Saturday night. Israeli missiles and artillery shells landed in Juhor Ad-Dik, east of the Al-Bureij refugee camp, and in agricultural fields east of Gaza City. No injuries have been reported from those incidents.

Meanwhile, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza, the An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades, said its fighters fired a Grad-style missile into the western Negev on Saturday evening.

The group said the shelling was a natural response to the ongoing Israeli crimes against Palestinians.

Livni calls for another Cast Lead

On Saturday, Israel's opposition leader Tzipi Livni said the escalation in mortar fire called for a new military campaign against the coastal enclave.

"The right way to deal with it is with force, just like Israel did during and after Operation Cast Lead," news website Ynet quoted her as telling local authority heads in the border region.

Israeli forces killed more than 1,400 Palestinians during the December 2008- January 2009 offensive, more than half of whom were women and children. Thirteen Israelis, 10 of them soldiers, were killed in the 22-day attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel would use "all necessary means to protect its citizens" in a statement from his office.

In January, Gaza's main militant factions confirmed a year-old truce after weeks of increased rocket fire and spiraling tensions along the border prompted a warning from Arab leaders that Gaza was risking a major new Israeli invasion.

AFP contributed to this story



http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=370348



Israeli shelling destroys Gaza power lines
Published yesterday (updated) 20/03/2011 00:48
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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli shelling on Saturday destroyed power lines providing electricity to the Gaza Strip, said Electricity Company spokesman Jamal Ad-Dardasawi.

Ad-Dardawasi said Israeli shells struck main lines cutting off the power supply to areas east of Gaza City and in northern Gaza.

"By shelling these lines, the company has lost around 50 megawatts, leaving most of Gaza's neighborhoods without electricity. Only 40 megawatts are left to be distributed across the city," he said.

"In addition, the company lost more than 12 megawatts in the northern district after Israel shelled the line that provides the area with electricity."

The spokesman said the company was working on bringing technicians in to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure.

Gaza's Interior Ministry said five were injured, including a 3-year-old boy, as Israeli forces struck targets in the coastal enclave.

Locals said the Israeli strikes targeted a security facility in Gaza City's Shuja'iyya neighborhood.

Meanwhile Israeli tanks targeted a mosque in the south, the Gaza International Airport near Rafah, and the Shokat As-Sufi village, eyewitnesses said.

The shelling came hours after huge explosions were heard in the southern Gaza City, apparently from Palestinian launch pads as resistance fighters launched mortar shells at Israeli areas bordering the Gaza Strip.

Hamas' military wing claimed responsibility for the mortar attacks, and said the shelling came in response to Israel's "crimes and the ongoing air and ground strikes on the Gaza Strip the latest of which targeted and killed two Hamas' fighters."

Israel said 49 mortar bombs fell on or around Israeli communities near the border with the Gaza Strip in the biggest violation yet of an informal truce militants declared in January.

Army radio said only minor damage was caused but an Israeli military spokesman said two civilians were lightly wounded when three projectiles fell on Pithat Shalom in the Negev desert.

AFP contributed to this report

http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=370277

freepalestine
20th March 2011, 18:55
Published today (updated) 20/03/2011 18:46




GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian man sustained wounds Sunday as Israeli tanks launched fresh attacks against targets in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.

Palestinian medics said a man was hit by shrapnel and wounded all over his body.

Witnesses said Israel's military fired three artillery shells at Juhor Ad-Dik, an area east of Al-Bureij refugee camp.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she would look into the incident.

The attack comes amid a tense escalation in violence between Gaza resistance fighters and Israel's military.

Gaza militants have fired at Israeli forces operating in the coastal enclave, and launched dozens of mortars across the border.

On Saturday night Israeli missiles and artillery shells landed in the northern and central Gaza Strip, and Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teenagers near the northern border.

Earlier Saturday, an Israeli air strike injured at least five Palestinians in Gaza City and damaged power lines, cutting electricity to neighborhoods in central and northern Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Saturday that Israel would use "all means necessary to protect its citizens."

The Israeli news site Ynet said opposition leader Tzipi Livni called for a repeat of Israel's devastating 2008 offensive on the Gaza Strip, Operation Cast Lead.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the 22-day attack.



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PFLP group targets army post
Published today 01:29
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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said Saturday that its fighters fired mortar shells toward Israel forces in eastern Gaza.

The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said militants fired two shells toward Israel tanks near Kissufim military post.

In a statement, the group said it would continue to resist and confront the Israeli occupation.

freepalestine
23rd March 2011, 03:30
Israel kills 9 Gazans in day of strikes
Published yesterday (updated) 22/03/2011 22:22




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A Palestinian man cries at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City near the covered body of relative killed in an Israeli military strike on a home east of Gaza City. The Al-Hilu family was playing football when the shell hit, medics said [AFP/Mohammed Abed]





GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli warplanes killed four Palestinians in an air strike on Az-Zaitoun neighborhood south of Gaza City on Tuesday evening, medics said.

The attack came hours after Israeli artillery fire hit a home east of Gaza City killing a child, a teenager and three adults.

Emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said the four victims of the latest strike were members of the Al-Quds Brigades. They were all in their 20s, he said.

Abu Salmiya identified those killed as Adham Al-Hazareen, Sa'dy Hals, Muhammad Atyeh Al-Harazeen and Muhammad Abed.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said Israeli fighter jets identified "a group of terrorists" in northern Gaza who she said were preparing to launch a projectile into Israel. The warplanes dropped missiles on the group "and confirmed a hit," she added.

The army official said the men targeted were from the same group that launched a grad rocket into Israel on February 23, but could not say how they had been identified.

Civilians killed playing football

Earlier in the day, Israeli tanks fired at a home on An-Nazzaz Street in the eastern part of the Ash-Shaja’iya neighborhood in Gaza City.

Abu Salmiya said members of the Abu Hilu family were playing football outside the home when the shell hit.

Muhammad Jihad Al-Hilu, 11, Yasser Ahed Al-Hilu, 16, Muhammad Saber Harara, 20, Yasser Hamer Al-Hilu, 50, and a fifth unidentified victim were all killed in the attack, and several others were injured, the medical spokesman said.

Israel's military spokeswoman said forces fired toward a launch site for projectiles, but admitted that "uninvolved civilians were injured."

However, she blamed Hamas for operating "within a civilian population."

She added that the army "does not seek an escalation with this act."

On Tuesday morning, Israeli artillery fire injured one man and a drone strike critically injured another in the same area.

Shortly before midnight the day before, a series of Israeli air strikes injured 18 (http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=371003), including women and children.

Several hours before the raids, Hamas' armed wing called for a truce.

Israel's military says Gaza militants have launched over 50 projectiles into Israel in recent days.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas, said it fired mortars into Israel in response to an air strike that killed two of its members on Wednesday.

But the group said it would commit to a ceasefire if Israel stopped bombarding the Gaza Strip.

Israeli leaders have stepped up rhetoric in response to the projectiles. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would use "all means necessary to protect its citizens."

According to Israeli news site Ynet, opposition leader Tzipi Livni called for another Operation Cast Lead, Israel's devastating 22-day offensive launched in December 2008 which killed over 1,400 Palestinians.

http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=37137

freepalestine
23rd March 2011, 22:44
5 killed as Israeli tanks shell Gaza home
Published yesterday (updated) 23/03/2011 16:39


GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A child, teenager and three adults were killed and others injured by Israeli artillery fire which hit a home east of Gaza City on Tuesday afternoon, the second shelling and third hit of the day.

Earlier, two were injured in the same area in separate incidents involving artillery fire and a drone strike.

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the involvement of civilians, in a strike she said was directed toward militants.

Medics collected bodies from a home on An-Nazzaz Street in the eastern part of the Ash-Shaja’iya neighborhood in Gaza City.

Adham Abu Salmiya, spokesman of the higher committee of ambulance and emergency services, said members of the Al-Hilu family were playing football outside of their home when the shell hit.

Eyewitnesses said ambulances took the injured to Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza city.

Medics identified the dead as:

Muhammad Jihad Al-Hilu, 11
Yasser Ahed Al-Hilu, 16
Muhammad Saber Harara, 20
Yasser Hamer Al-Hilu, 50

A fifth remains unidentified.

After 3 p.m., the National Resistance Brigades said fighters fired two projectiles toward "Israeli settlements north of the Gaza Strip," and said the move was in response to "Israeli air raids on Gaza."

A statement from the group said "resistance is the only way to gain our national rights."

Israel's military spokeswoman said an investigation was underway into the deaths of an unknown number of civilians. She said troops fired "directly toward the launch site" where hours earlier "four military-use projectiles were fired" toward Israel.

The army official said "uninvolved civilians were injured," but blamed Hamas for operating "within a civilian population."

She added that the army "does not seek an escalation with this act."

It was the third Israeli strike of the day.

Shortly before 10 a.m. artillery fire injured one man in the Ash-Shuja'iyya neighborhood, just after witnesses reported Israeli vehicles penetrating the Gaza Strip in the area.

The injured man was identified as a 21-year-old Gaza resident. Medics did not say if he was a civilian or member of resistance factions which have recently been engaged in ramped-up activity near the border against Israeli forces operating there.

In a second incident that took place before noon, a man was critically injured by a drone strike in the same area.

An Israeli military statement said the fire was aimed at a group "of terrorists preparing to launch an anti-tank missile at an adjacent force, and thwarted the attempt by firing towards it, confirming a hit."

The statement said the Israeli military would "respond with determination to any firing or other terrorist activities emanating from the Gaza Strip, and will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers. The IDF warns Hamas not to continue its aggression."

Shortly before midnight the day before, a series of Israeli air strikes injured 18 (http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=371003), including women and children.


http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=371286









Fatah calls for intervention in Israeli strikes
Published today (updated) 23/03/2011 16:41





RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian political group Fatah issued a statement Wednesday calling for an international intervention that would put "immediate pressure on Israel to stop its attacks against Palestinian civilians in Gaza."

Fatah spokesman, Ahmad Assaf, who issued the statement on behalf of the party, said "The international position should be courageous," and called on the sides to take measures to stop Israel from "considering itself above the law."

Assaf labeled the killing of civilians in Gaza on Saturday and Tuesday, on top of persistent attacks against Gaza residents, a "genocide, which the international community must put a stop to."

He said Fatah believed Israel had a political aim to their Tuesday attacks, which saw four civilians and four militants killed in separate incidents. "The strikes aimed at destroying national unity," he said.

Assaf further called on Hamas to "spare the Palestinian people from new human tragedies and destruction," in an apparent reference to the steady flow of projectile fire launched by factions toward Israel, and a prod to the party to push forward with unity measures.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier in the week that Abbas could choose between "peace with Israel or Hamas," while the leader of the country's opposition Tipzi Livni was quoted Saturday by Israeli news website Ynet saying, "The right way to deal with it [projectile fire from Gaza] is with force, just like Israel did during and after Operation Cast Lead."

On Wednesday morning, Abbas asked the Russian foreign minister to exert pressure on Israel, and demand a halt to what he described as an "escalation" against Gaza, as the UN's Middle East Peace envoy Robert Serry condemned the "killing of three Palestinian children and their uncle and the wounding of thirteen other civilians by an Israeli tank shell."

Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights called the recent set of Israeli strikes a "war crime," and said evidence indicated that there were deliberate attacks on civilians, including the two killed (http://beth.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=370911) on Saturday.