4 Palestinians Killed, 46 Injured Mostly Women and Children, in Israeli Aggression Raids on Gaza, Jabalia, Nablus, Abbas Threatens to Resign

Israeli aircraft bomb interior ministry of de facto government in Gaza; one woman dead, 46 injured

Date: 18 / 01 / 2008 Time: 16:04

Gaza - Ma'an -

A woman was killed and 46 people were injured, three of them seriously, in an Israeli occupation forces airstrike on the interior ministry of the de facto government in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Al-Hawa, on Friday afternoon.

The building was completely destroyed and a missile hit a wedding party in front of the ministry, resulting in the injury of dozens of people, including women and children.

According to Muawiya Hassanain, th director of emergency and ambulance services in the Palestinian health ministry, fifty-two-year-old Haniya Abd Al-Jawad was killed. 32 of the injured were taken to Ash-Shifa' Hospital in Gaza City, three of them in a critical condition. 14 others were taken to Al-Quds Hospital.

The de facto government's interior ministry has been targeted twice in the past several months by the Israeli airforce.

Meanwhile Israeli occupation warplanes also bombed the marine headquarters of the security services, west of Dir Al-Balah. No one is reported injured.

During a meeting between Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Army Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi at the Israeli army headquarters in Gaza, it was decided to wait until the spring before launching a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv reported on Thursday.

However, the newspaper added that Barak issued instructions during the meeting to increase assassination operations. "We must continue to increase assassination operations," he was quoted as saying.

It has been the bloodiest week in recent months in the Gaza Strip, with 36 people killed and scores injured in Israeli military operations in the past four days.

Two dead, two injured in Israeli airstrike on northern Gaza Strip

Date: 18 / 01 / 2008 Time: 11:05

Gaza – Ma'an –

Two Palestinians were killed and two others injured on Friday morning in an Israeli occupation forces airstrike on the city of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.

Muawiyya Hassanain, director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Ministry of Health identified on of the dead as twenty-two-year-old Ismail Radwan. Seventeen-year-old Mahmoud Ramadan was seriously wounded in the attack and died later in hospital, according to Hassanain.

The latest killing brings the number of dead to 35 in four days of Israeli military offensives against the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, local Palestinian sources told Ma'an that Israeli occupation forces have moved one of their military bases several hundred meters inside Israel from its original site, east of Khan Younis on the Gaza border. The base has been repeatedly targeted by Palestinian projectiles over the past few days.

Al-Aqsa Brigades leader killed in clashes with Israeli forces; Abbas threatens resignation over continued violence

Date: 18 / 01 / 2008 Time: 12:41

Nablus - Ma'an –

A leader from the military wing of Fateh, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, was killed during several hours of clashes with Israeli Special Forces (death squads) in the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus on Friday.

Israeli Special Forces (death squads) stormed Balata refugee camp east of Nablus at dawn, and surrounded a house where four brigades members were holed up. Armed clashes ensued and Al-Aqsa leader Ahmed Sanakra was killed. His three fellow combatants, Yousef Hanoun, Mohamed Hweta and Mahmoud Shtawi, were arrested.

The Israeli occupation forces had made several attempts to assassinate twenty-five-year-old Ahmed Sanakra in recent years.

Medical sources reported that three-year-old Yazan Qara'an was also shot and wounded during the large scale invasion, carried out by more than 50 military vehicles that surrounded the camp from all its sides.

The Israeli forces raided several houses and imposed a curfew in the camp before withdrawing, leaving Sanakra dead, and several Palestinian citizens injured.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to resign and end negotiations with Israel in protest at the continued Israeli aggression, according to the Jerusalem-based daily newspaper Al-Quds.

Abbas feels the continuation of negotiations in light of the current situation is pointless, the newspaper reported.

The Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee commented that it is evident from the escalation of Israeli military aggression in the Gaza Strip that the Israeli occupation government intends to expand the circle of violence against the Palestinian people.

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