8 Palestinians Massacred, Including a Mother and her 3 Children, 80 Injured, in an Israeli air strike on their home in Al-Buraij refugee camp, in Gaza Strip

Islamic Jihad leader and family killed in Israeli air strike; 80 wounded

Date: 16 / 02 / 2008 Time: 11:03
Gaza – Ma'an -

Eight Palestinians, including a senior Islamic Jihad leader and his wife and three of his children were killed in an Israeli air stirke on a house in Al-Buraij refugee camp, near Gaza City in the central Gaza Strip on Friday night.

80 others were wounded in the densely populated residential neighbourhood.

Eyewitnesses said that an Israeli F-16 aircraft fired at least one missile that hit the home of Al-Quds Brigades commander 42-year-old Ayman Fayed, also known as Abu Abdallah. The three-story building was completely destroyed.

Muawiyya Hassanain, director of ambulance and emergency services at the Palestinian health ministry said Fayed, his wife Marwa Azzam, his daughter Basma and his 2 sons Ayub and Ali. Others who were killed were named as Talal Salah Abu 'Oun, Attallah Ismael As-Samiri and Zakaria Nabil Al-Kafafi.

The dead and wounded were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah and several other hospitals. Seven people, described as being in a serious condition, were taken to Ash- Shifa Hospital.

However, a military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv denied that Israeli occupation forces had any involvement in the incident, according to the Al-Jazeera news website.

Brigades promise revenge

Spokesman for the Al-Quds brigades, Abu Ahmad, said that the Israeli occupation government has lost its way by starting the fight against locals, women and children.

He added that Israel should expect a "strong response" for the killings.

Al-Quds Brigades leader Abu Abir said "the Israeli crime is an indication of further assassinations against our people."

He vowed to avenge Fayed's death.

For its part, the Islamic Jihad said that the Israelis "will pay for their crimes, especially the last attack against a residential neighborhood that resulted in the martyrdom of 8 people."

Hamas spokesman, Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri said in a press conference that "this crime has opened the door of the struggle and we won't stay silent in the face of these crimes."

Appeals to international community

Fatah also condemned Friday's massacre in Gaza.

Fatah spokesman Fahmi Al-Za'arir said that Friday's assassination showed that Israel and its leaders have adopted a policy of organized crime and the international community must force them to stop such policies.

He added that the United States and the International Quartet must assume their responsibilities and stop the Israeli aggression.

Al-Za'arir concluded by saying that all attempts by Israel to impose its terms of surrender on our people and their leadership, or to try and deter us from our aspirations and our national rights, will not succeed and we will continue our path towards freedom and independence at all costs.

Said Abu Mujahid, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees in Palestine, said that Israeli occupation forces had crossed the line by persisting in carrying out atrocities and targeting homes in Al-Bureij refugee camp.

Abu Mujahid called on the resistance factions to respond.

In turn, the National Resistance Brigades denounced the Israeli massacre in the Buraij camp, saying they will continue to attack Israeli positions.

Eight Palestinians killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza

Friday February 15, 2008 23:58 by Saed Bannoura, Rami Al Meghari - IMEMC & Agencies saed at imemc dot org

Palestinian medical sources reported on Friday at night that eight Palestinians were killed and several others were injured when the Israeli air force fired missiles at the house of one of the leaders of the Islamic Jihad in Al Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Eyewitnesses reported that the shelling targeted the house of Ayman Fayid, 42, one of the leaders of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement. The house completely collapsed over its residents due to the shelling.

On its website, the Al Quds Brigades confirmed that Fayid was killed in the strike and that six members of his family were injured in addition to dozens of injuries among residents of nearby houses.

Dr. Moawiya Hassanen, head of the Emergency Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said that eight residents were confirmed dead and 40 others were injured, 10 seriously.

Some of the injured residents were transferred to the Al Aqsa Hospital while others were transferred to Nasser and Al Shifa Hospitals.

Medical sources confirmed that eight residents will killed in the attack and several others were injured, some seriously.

Iyad Hussein, one of the neighbors, told the IMEMC that he was sitting with his family when they heard a loud explosion and saw one of the walls of his house being knocked down by the blast “We were sitting at home, as usual, abruptly we heard a loud explosion”, he stated, “and then we saw the wall in my how knocked down, we did not hear ant warplanes overhead”

The number of casualties is expected to increase as some residents are still buried under the rubble of the shelled house. Several nearby houses were damaged by the blast.

Currently, civil defense teams and medics are evacuating the killed and the wounded residents while other teams are still searching under the rubble

Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that the Israeli military spokesperson denied any relation to the attack.

Nabeel Abu Rodeina, spokesperson of the Palestinian president, denounced the attack and said Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip. He also called on the Israeli government to stop its escalation against the Palestinian people and stated that these attacks and assassination negatively affect the peace process and hinder its progress.

Meanwhile, the Al Quds Brigades vowed fierce retaliation to this attack and to the ongoing Israeli attacks and violations.

Caretaker gov't: Breij crime is a disgrace to all humanity

[ 16/02/2008 - 09:11 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The PA caretaker government headed by Ismail Haniya strongly denounced the Israeli massacre committed on Friday in the Buraij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, in which eight Palestinians were killed and dozens were seriously wounded, considering it a disgrace to all humanity.

In a statement received by the PIC, Taher Al-Nunu, the spokesman for the government, opined that the massacre is a dangerous shift in Israel's mechanism of assaults on the unarmed Palestinian people and reflects the extent of terrorism it practices.

Nunu called on those who condemn the Palestinian people for their attempts to defend themselves by humble primitive means and describe them as frivolous to just look for one moment at the mass destruction and crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against innocent Palestinians.

The spokesman also called on the international community to stop being passive towards Israel's ongoing atrocities committed against the Palestinian people and to move urgently to curb the terrorism of the Israeli occupation that "lives on bloodshed".

The spokesman questioned: "If what happened in the Buraij camp was not a terrorist act, so what kind of terrorism is construed by the international community?"

For its part, Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, warned in a press release received by the PIC that the Israeli occupation would pay dearly for the Buraij massacre, adding that the Palestinian resistance would retaliate strongly to this crime.

Another Hamas leader, Yousuf Farhat, stated in a phone call with the PIC that this Israeli massacre proves what Hamas had earlier said that the Israeli occupation respects only the language of force, calling on the PA leadership in Ramallah to stop its absurd meetings with the Israeli occupation and to respect the Palestinian blood.

For its part, the Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, vowed that there would be a painful retaliation to the Buraij massacre in which one of its leaders called Ayman Fayed died along with his wife and two children.

In retaliation to the ongoing Israeli crimes and incursions, the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, detonated an explosive device at an infiltrating Israeli special force in the east of the Beit Hanun, northern Gaza Strip, Friday night inflicting injuries in its ranks according to news reports.

In another operation, the Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility in a communiqué received by the PIC for firing on Friday evening eight mortar shells at a gathering of IOF troops at the Abu Sunaida gate in Rafah, adding that five minutes after the mortar shelling, its fighters engaged the IOF troops at the gate.

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