Israeli ground and air forces invade southern Gaza 

Date: 16 / 09 / 2007 Time: 09:12

Rafah – Ma'an – 

Israeli occupation forces on Sunday morning launched an incursion into the area of Al-'Umur, east of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli occupaiton forces penetrated through the Israeli-controlled Sufa Crossing, between Israel and southern Gaza.

Eyewitnesses informed Ma'an's correspondent that at least ten Israeli military tanks and several bulldozers travelled towards the area at 2am amidst intensive gunfire and under cover of Israeli fighter jets.

The Israeli troops stormed Palestinian homes and seized citizens.

Palestinian sources revealed that Israeli apache helicopters launched at least one missile at the Mu'ath Ibin Jabal Mosque, causing severe material damage.

The military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for detonating a landmine as an Israeli bulldozer passed, near Sufa Crossing.

The Al-Nasser Salahuddin Brigades of the Popular Resistance Committees claimed that they hurled two homemade projectiles towards the neighbouring Kerem Shalom Crossing.

Denunciation

Palestinian minister of agriculture in the de facto government of Gaza, Muhammad Al-Agha, denounced the Israeli escalation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"I call on the international community to intervene immediately in order to deter the Israeli occupation," said Al-Agha.

He told the press, "A gesture of Israeli aggression threatening the Gaza Strip can be perceived through the partial incursions in the areas bordering the fence between Gaza and territories occupied in 1948."

Al-Agha said that the Israeli forces have begun eroding agricultural land in the areas of Al-'Umur, and Al-Farta, near Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip.

"These incursions take place alongside the crippling siege imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip in an attempt to subdue people and stop the legal government from looking after the Palestinian people," said Al-Agha.

The minister of agriculture said that Israel's goals will not be achieved.

IOF troops invade Rafah, Palestinian resistance retaliates

[ 16/09/2007 - 08:44 AM ]

RAFAH, (PIC)-- 

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) reinforced by jet fighters invaded at dawn Sunday Al-'Amour neighborhood, to the east of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, amid fierce bombardment, where the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, along with Al- Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, managed to detonate two explosive devices near the invading soldiers.

Local sources confirmed to the PIC reporter that about ten tanks accompanied by two bulldozers advanced into the neighborhood amid indiscriminate shelling, bulldozed vast tracts of agricultural lands, and kidnapped a number of Palestinian citizens after storming and ransacking their houses.

In a new violation against the worship houses and in defiance of the Muslims' feelings during Ramadan, Israeli jet fighters bombed Mu'adh Bin Jabal mosque in the same area and shelled once again the Gaza international airport.

In retaliation to these blatant assaults against Gaza and its people, the Qassam Brigades blasted one of the bulldozers using an explosive device; whereas, Al-Quds Brigades managed to detonate an explosive package at a gathering of the Israeli special troops deployed to the west of the Soufa crossing near Rafah.

In a communiqué received by the PIC, Al-Quds Brigades confirmed that the explosive package inflicted injuries and casualties in the ranks of the Israeli special troops, pointing to the fact that the IOF troops always hide their losses.

In Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, the IOF shot a young man called Mohamed Sobhi, 17, in the thigh afternoon Saturday. Sobhi was transferred to the Shifa hospital in Gaza. The IOF soldiers abducted a number of Palestinians after storming their houses in the area.

Later, the IOF used family members of Mohammed Kafarneh and Ayish Abu Harbid as human shields in their advance to the east of Beit Hanoun.

 

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Note to Readers:

The Israeli settlements as well as the Land-Grab, Apartheid Wall in the Palestinian occupied territories have been built illegally on confiscated Palestinian lands. These represent a major violation of international law, Geneva Conventions, and they obstruct reaching a peaceful resolution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The Israeli occupation forces abduct and kidnap Palestinians from their homes and at checkpoints, on daily basis. Most media refer to these abductions and kidnappings as arrests, which is inaccurate and not true as the Israeli occupation government has no jurisdiction over Palestinian citizens inside their own territories.

Further, when Israeli occupation forces kill Palestinian civilians, particularly when the victims are women and children, this should be referred to as an act of terrorism, and perpetrators should be described as terrorists.

Since the end of the second intifadha in 2005, not a single Israeli civilian was killed by Palestinian resistance organizations. However, Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces, almost on daily basis.

Note to Journalists:

Any journalist who does not describe this as terrorism is biased, unfair, not objective, and a participant in terrorizing the Palestinian people, so the Israeli occupation of Palestine can continue endlessly.

Note to Translators:

The Arabic definite article, Al (or its variant, El) should be written with a hyphen separating it from the noun it is associated with, for example Al-Aqsa. If a hyphen is not used, as in Al Aqsa, it confuses non-Arabic readers. They may think that it is an abbreviation of the name Albert, as many Americans do.

The Arabic definite article Al (or El) should be written as such, whether it is Shamsiyah or Qamariyah in pronunciation, simply because we are dealing with the written form of the language, not the spoken one. Using the Shamsiyah so many forms in writing is inaccurate and confusing to non-Arabic readers, to say the least.

Only standard (fasih) pronunciation of Arabic names should be used. Non-standard ('ammi)  should be avoided avoided. Example: Names like Abu Sunainah, Abu Rudainah, and Abu Shebak are written by some translators in the non-standard forms of Abu Snainah, Abu Rdainah, and Abu Shbak.

The standard pronunciation of the vowel at the end of names is (a), not (e), particularly if it is followed by (h), like in the cases of Haniyah and Rudainah, not Haniyeh and Rudaineh.

The standard pronunciation of vowels in the following names is (ai), not (ei) as written by  some translators: Hussain, not Hussein and Hassanain, not Hassanein. This is the same long vowel pronounced in the English words "rain" and "brain."

 

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