Al-Aqsa Brigades: 12 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza

Date: 13 / 01 / 2009  Time:  20:04
Gaza – Ma’an –

Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fat'h, announced that one its fighters killed 12 invading Israeli soldiers and injured six others in a martyrdom operation (known in the media as suicide bombing) in the northern Gaza Strip.

In a statement the organization said: “At 3:35 this afternoon a fighter (fida-i) called Abdul Rahman Bawady, 22, bombed himself with 18 Israeli soldiers in one of the destroyed houses in Al-Atatra.”

“The Brigades used RPGs from four directions targeting the troops 10 minutes before the fida-i operation and that is to facilitate the assignment of the fighter,” the statement added.

The term "feda-i" (plural: feda-iyeen) literally means one who sacrifices himself for his country.

The spokesperson  of the invading Israeli forces reported that four soldiers were injured in Gaza on Tuesday, and has not yet said that any were killed.

Up to 20 projectiles fired from Gaza on Tuesday

Date: 13 / 01 / 2009  Time:  20:38
Gaza – Ma’an –

About 20 Palestinian homemade projectiles and rockets fell on Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Israeli officials reported.

The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades claimed responsibility for launching six projectiles and three mortar shells at areas around Gaza.

One homemade projectile hit a house in the city of Asqalan, on the coast north of Gaza. Another landed near a school in the city, causing damage to the building.

Two projectiles hit open areas in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, two struck Eshkol Regional Council, and two hit near the town of Ofakim. No causalities were reported.

Al-Nasser Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, claimed to fire a projectile at a group of invading Israeli soldiers east of the town of Jabaliya, and fired two mortar shells at Israeli military installations across the border east of the city of Rafah.

Reports: Only 30 of 200 Gazans seized during invasion are linked to armed groups

Date: 13 / 01 / 2009  Time:  20:50
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Only 30 of the 200 Palestinians seized by the invading Israeli terrorist army throughout the war in Gaza have been linked to Hamas or other armed groups, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

According to the reports, Israeli terrorist forces have also put on hold a plan to open a new wing of the Naqab prison camp in which many Palestinians are held.

The detainees are reportedly being treated as illegal combatants, and will be placed in administrative detention, a practice under which Palestinians can be held indefinitely without trial.

Military prosecutors say that judges have already been assigned to the cases of the 200 detainees, and they will be remanded to prison terms according to recommendations from the Israeli security services.

UN: “Growing pockets” of Gaza population trapped in homes; 35,000 taking shelter in schools

Date: 13 / 01 / 2009  Time:  21:39
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

“Growing pockets” of the population in Gaza are trapped in their homes, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Tuesday evening.

In its daily update on humanitarian conditions in Gaza, OCHA said that affected areas “include Siyafa, Al-Atatra, Al-Isra, As Salateen, east and north of Beit Hanoon, east of Jabalia (North Gaza); southeast Al-Zaytoon (southeast of Gaza Governorate); and Al-Tuffah (east of Gaza Governorate).”

“Aid organizations have been unable so far to access these communities,” the report said.

“The bodies of those killed in the Al-Samouni house in Al-Zaytoon on 5 January have still not been recovered, despite appeals to the Israeli terrorist army for access to the home,” the agency said.

In addition, some 35,520 people have taken shelter in UN-run schools across Gaza after fleeing their homes. This figure is an increase of 7,404 people in the last two days.

Furthermore, OCHA reported, some 60% of Gazans are still without electricity.

Invading Israeli forces tighten grip on Gaza City - 47 confirmed killed

Date: 13 / 01 / 2009  Time:  10:56
Gaza – Ma’an –

Invading Israeli terrorist ground forces tightened their grip around Gaza City on Tuesday as Israeli terrorist warplanes, artillery and naval forces continued to bombard all parts of the Gaza Strip.

More bodies were also recovered from previous days of the Israeli terrorist war. Palestinian medical officials confirmed another 47 people killed by Israeli terrorist forces over the course of the day.

Many were killed as Israeli terrorist forces moved further into Tel Al-Hawa, in the southwest of Gaza City, and Zaytoon, in the south of Gaza. The town of Jabaliya, north of Gaza City, continued to be a focus of clashes with Israeli forces.

In the south of the Strip, the town of Khuza’a, near the Israeli border, has been the target of aerial bombardment. Eleven people were killed there including an 75-year-old man.

Jabaliya and the north

Thirteen armed Palestinian fighters were killed in heavy fighting with the invading Israeli terrorist forces in southwestern Jabaliya. They were identified by medical officials as: Hassan Muhammad Abu Zamar, 22, Muhammad Khalil Ibrahim Abu Leila, 20, Nael Mahmoud Ali, 25, Ibrahim Ismail Dababesh, 22, Usama Ahmad Al-Absy, 24, Hamad Hassan Al-Barawi, 25, Kamel Jamil As-Sarhi, 22, Yousuf Muhammad Al-Sharbasy, 27, Yousuf Ummar Labad, 23, Khaled Al-Sa’ady Al-Abed, 22, Asa’ad Sa’ady Ahmed, 24, Ali Al-Tanany, 26, and Ahmed Kamal Al-Dalo, 27.

Palestinians in Jabaliya have reported constant airstrikes throughout Tuesday afternoon. Seven people were killed in three separate airstrikes on built-up areas of Jabaliya Refugee Camp. Some forty others were wounded.

Other airstrikes were reported in the town of Beit Lahiya, in the morning.

Tel Al-Hawa

In the Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood, Israeli forces killed eight Palestinian fighters: Muhammad Nader Abu Sha’aban, 17, Fathi Yousef Al-Mazny, 18, Hatem Dib Abu Daf, 23, Bilal Muhammad Deibeh, 19, Ala Mundher Abdul Shafe’y, 37, Mahmoud Ahmed Juha, 19, Sa'eed Muhammed Hassan, 21, Muhammad Hazem Abu Labad, 20.

The Israeli terrorist forces invaded and ransacked several homes in Tel Al-Hawa, gathering groups of soldiers on the roofs of homes and firing on scared locals. At least four were killed in the attack.

Israeli forces struck the An-Nasser home as well as the a carpentry workshop in Tel Al-Hawa. Many residents were fleeing their homes in the hill-top area overlooking the Gaza shore as Israeli troops overran the area.

Down the eastern slope of Tel Al-Hawah residents reported intensive shelling near the Al-Mujtama'a college, which was its self demolished. Residents are fleeing this residential neighborhood as well, many not knowing which areas in Gaza City are safe.

Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades sent several statements announcing their attacks on Israeli troops near Tel Al-Hawa. According to their reports at least eight Israeli military vehicles were hit including two bulldozers being used to tear down buildings and facilitate troop movement in the densely populated city.

In parallel the Al-Nasser brigades announced that they launched an RPG and four homemade projectiles at an Israeli tank participating in the ground battles.

Zaytoon and city center

In the Al-Zaitoon neighborhood opened fire at two locals from the Ayyad family while they were on their way home and they are Yehyah Jamil Ayyad 30 years-old and Ashraf Hamdi Ayyad, 23.

Israeli terrorist forces shelled the eastern section of the Zaytoon neighborhood killing a fighter named Muhammad Maher Muhammad Ali, 23.

Further east and closer to the city center resistance factions clashed with invading Israeli ground troops. The troops were accompanied with tank and air fire, which resulted in the death of two Al-Qassam fighters in the Al-Zaytoon neighborhood. The Brigades identified the dead as Ahmad Abu Gazar and Muhammad Al-Hawar.

On the other end of the city in the northern neighborhood of Shaikh Radhwan, dozens were injured as Israeli troops came at the city from a second direction. Two were killed in strikes on the nearby Al-Karama neighborhood.

The south

In Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Israeli troops attacked a group of resistance fighters near the Al-Tawhid mosque. One was killed in strikes on the Abbasan area.

Later, in Khuza’a, near Khan Younis, 75 year-old Khalil Hamdan Ahmed Al-Najjar were killed in an airstrike that hit a three-story house. Seven others were injured.

An-Najjar’s daughter in law, Rawheyeh Ahmad Sulaiman Al-Najjar, 45, was killed while she was fleeing the area. Two of his grandchildren were also killed.

A total of eleven people were killed in the ongoing strikes on Khuza’a.

Israeli warplanes continue to drop bombs ahead of advancing troops in southwestern Gaza City - 27 dead today, 930 total

Date: 13 / 01 / 2009  Time:  10:56
Gaza - Ma’an -

The Zionist Israeli terrorist forces movement was focused on the south-western Gaza City neighborhood of Tel Al-Hawwah overnight Monday, with reports of 27 more dead mostly from clashes in the Al-Zaytoon and Tel Al-Hawa neighborhoods.

The death toll of 18 days of Israeli attacks is 930, with more than 4,280 injured.

Israeli troops invaded and ransacked several homes in the southern Gaza City neighborhood of Tel Al-Hawa, gathering groups of soldiers on the roofs of homes and firing on scared locals. At least four were killed in the attack.

As usual the ground attacks were preceded by air and tank fire. Missiles struck the An-Nasser home as well as the Abdul Carpentry workshop in Tel Al-Hawa. Many residents were fleeing their homes in the hill-top area overlooking the Gaza shore as Israeli troops overran the area.

Down the eastern slope of Tel Al-Hawa residents reported intensive shelling near the Al-Mujtama'a college, which was its self demolished. Residents are fleeing this residential neighborhood as well, many not knowing which areas in Gaza City are safe.

Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades sent several statements announcing their attacks on Israeli troops near Tel Al-Hawa. According to their reports at least eight Israeli military vehicles were hit including two bulldozers being used to tear down buildings and facilitate troop movement in the densely populated city.

In parallel the An-Nasser brigades announced that they launched an RPG and four homemade projectiles at an Israeli tank participating in the ground battles.

Further east and closer to the city center resistance factions clashed with invading Israeli ground troops. The troops were accompanied with tank and air fire, which resulted in the death of two Al-Qassam fighters in the Al-Zaytoon neighborhood. The Brigades identified the dead as Ahmed Abu Gazar and Muhammad Al-Hawar.

On the other end of the city in the northern neighborhood of Shaikh Radhwan, dozens were injured as Israeli troops came at the city from a second direction. Two were killed in strikes on the nearby Al-Karama neighborhood.

Further north near the border with Israel terrorist warplanes struck the Bet Lahiya square in Al-Taw-am area, demolishing a residential apartment tower. Strikes in Jabaliya killed two.

In Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Israeli troops attacked a group of resistance fighters near the Al-Tawhid mosque. One was killed in strikes on the Abasan area.

Ari attacks in Rafah destroyed the Khuza’a and Kaware homes, and in the central strip more air strikes destroyed several buildings in the Nussairat refugee camp.

Medical Sources

Head of Emergency and Ambulance Services in the Ministry of Health Mu'awiya Hassanain said he had received 11 bodies at the Gaza City hospital since dawn, but said there were certainly more bodies in the streets and beneath bombed buildings who cannot be reached because of ongoing Israeli attacks.

Among the dead identified Tuesday morning were two from the Al-Sherbasi family, killed in the Al-Zaytoon neighborhood, but ambulances have been unable to reach the dead and collect them because of the continued fighting in the area. The same was true, he said, for two dead in the Al-Karamah area, since Israeli forces are still pushing into the area and will not allow emergency vehicles into the area.

***Updated 11:27 Bethlehem time

Israel's new bombs from the eyes of their victims

Date: 13 / 01 / 2009  Time:  12:23
Gaza – Ma’an –

Everything was on fire; houses, sheds, trees.

Bombs, too, were everywhere, and with them came the white clouds or the Israeli white phosphorous bombs, the doctors are now saying.

But for sure it was a night of terror. We were terrified. We thought we were going to burn to death.

Bombs were everywhere. That's what 27-year-old Fadia Al-Najjar kept saying. She's from Khuza'a; she was telling us what kind of horrific night she and her family had just gone through.

While explaining what had happened, Fadia stood next to her paramedic husband Ghanem, now surrounded by other medics, desperately struggling to save his life after he was caught in an airstrike unlike he had ever seen before.

Ghanem was incapacitated while on duty trying to bring injured Palestinians to the hospital. There had been calls reporting mysterious white smoke in the latest airstrike, and Ghanem was dispatched to attend to the wounded. He was on duty when he inhaled some of the smoke.

"The shelling with phosphorous bombs started in Khuza'a. Two of the bombs hit the area around our house,” Fadia explained. She recalled how the fire spread quickly throughout the home, and white smoke billowed out the windows.

"Neighbors were screaming, asking for help; the fire was changing," she remembers. "I woke up my kids, got them to my parents’ house, hoping to find a safer place."

"But the real catastrophe was two hours after we had moved to my parents’ house; bombs hit their home too and the fire spread everywhere. The top floor was burnt completely.”

It's not just her husband Fadia keeps watch over. In fact, the young mother has to split her time among the hospital's many wards. Her children have also been hospitalized.

"They wanted to burn us alive inside the house. There were 40 of us in there. Men, women, children,” she recalls of the second bombing. "We could hear their bodies burning."

"We didn't know where to go. Our house, my parents' house, my in-laws' house? All were burnt, damaged, destroyed. But where can we go in this weather? It's very cold."

Zakaya

Another relative, 51-year-old Zakaya, said she struggled to make sense of the chaos and confusion of trying to find her injured family members at Naser Hospital in the northwest of Gaza City.

Zakaya told Ma'an that she barely remembers what happened, "but at about 10:00pm we heard explosions in several areas of Khaza'a, coming closer and closer."

"We live so close to the border wall (targeted by Israel), so we were just so afraid; our fear reached a maximum level."

"The children were asleep, so I tried to wake some of them because I felt our home was no longer safe," she says. "And all of the sudden bombs fell all over our two-story house."

"White smoke filled the house, and suddenly fires were spreading inside," Zakaya explained while checking on her children at the hospital's intensive care unit.

"We started screaming; we were so scared. I started to get the kids outside but the bombing went on and six more bombs fell on our house."

After the sixth bomb hit the home Zakaya and those her family was able to get out of the home were forced to abandon those left in the building. The fire was too hot and the smoke too intense and no one could get back inside.

"The smoke was spreading so fast; we couldn't see through it. We couldn't see, but we could hear.” From the windows of the burning home the cries of her children and cousins filled the streets. “The cries were not just from my home, but from the neighbors' house too."

Paramedics arrived and evacuated some of the last who were rescued from the building. They braved the smoke and were able to rescue a few others before the entire building was engulfed in flames.

Adel

According to 48-year-old Adel Kudaih, the night was calm before the bombs hit. Now that he knows what it was, that it was phosphorous, "it just makes the situation that more horrible."

Kudaih came hurrying to the hospital to check up on his children injured by the phosphorous, but he also remembers how tired he was. He was in great shock, numb, when he told Ma'an how the "dozens of incendiary bombs fell on civilian houses."

"We could hear women and children screaming in fear," he says.

Many of the bombs fell on the courtyard of his house. "I hurried inside the house to wake up my twelve children. I was able to evacuate the house with the help of paramedics and others from the [Hamas-run] civil-defense team."

"When I was evacuating the house I saw a lot of houses and fields being burnt, too,” he recalls.

The doctor

Dr Yousuf Abu Al-Reesh, the medical director at Nasser Medical Center, said more than 90 patients were brought in for burn treatments Sunday night.

"Most of them were skin burns, lacerations and deep wounds. A lot of them came in choking, unable to breathe," he explains.

He explained that as far as he can tell the Israeli army is using two kinds of bombs, "The first causes severe skin burns and leads to death, as with 41-year-old Hanan Al-Najjar here, and others."

"The second kind leads to suffocation, congestion, the inability to breathe.”


Dr Al-Reesh said that he cannot confirm that the bombs are white phosphorus, since there are no specialized laboratories in Gaza. The eyewitness reports and the type of injuries he has seen in the hospital, however, worry him.

"What is certain” he said, “is that the Israeli government is using a new kind of bomb and explosives that Palestinian medics have never even heard of."

"Not even the Arab medical teams who just arrived can give us any support," he says.

The doctor pointed out that the wounds and burns are "terrible and horrific."

"And they can lead to death, as with Hanan Al-Najjar, who burned to death when a shell directly hit her body.”

When asked if Israel is deliberately using weapons that are illegal under international law for use against civilians, Dr Al-Reesh chooses his words carefully: "I can't rule that out."

18th day under attack: Gaza death toll reaches 935 with 4150 injured

Tuesday January 13, 2009 10:03 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that the ongoing Israeli terrorist offensive in the Gaza Strip has left 13 more Palestinians dead on Tuesday morning.  

Shells fired at Gaza believed to contain White Phosphorus

The Ministry of Health stated that the death toll due to the continued Israeli attack have reached 935, and the number of injured has reached 4,150; among the injured 470 are in critical condition. Of the 935 killed, hospital records demonstrate that 280 children, 98 women and 97 elderly people are among the dead.

Since Monday night until the time of this report, Israeli jetfighters continued to target the Gaza Strip, the attacks targeted homes and residential areas in Gaza City, Jabalyia and the costal line.

On Tuesday at dawn Israeli terrorist forces tanks started to move towards Gaza City, local sources reported. Heavy clashes took place between the Palestinian resistance groups and Israeli ground forces, witnesses said. The Hamas movement announced that its fighters managed to stop the tanks from advancing into Gaza City. Witnesses said clashes are still being heard all around the city.

Dr. Mu'awiyah Hassanain, director of the Emergency and Ambulance department in the Ministry of Health in Gaza, announced that half of those injured are children. He added that the doctors are witnessing a new type of injury, due to the use by the Israeli Army in Gaza of new bombs that contains White Phosphorus and Dense Metals

Dr. Hassanain told IMEMC over the phone that doctors are witnessing burns and disfigured bodies of victims, adding that the injured are arriving with a powder on their skin.   On Saturday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Israeli Army to stop using White Phosphorus in its artillery shells against the Gaza Strip. Researchers of HRW said that they observed white-phosphorus use on January 9th and January 10th near Gaza City and Jabalia,.  

Using this type of artillery, in this manner is banned by international humanitarian law, the group added. The shells are capable of burning human flesh right down to the bone and are capable of setting structures, fields and other civilian facilities on fire. The group added that using these kind of shells against one of the most densely populated areas in the world causes magnified harm, and called on Israel to stop using these shells.  

Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that the Israeli Army Spokesperson did not comment on the report.   The Israeli terrorist army embarked on its military offensive on Saturday, December 27th, 2008. Israeli terrorist forces warplanes began the military operation by shelling every possible Palestinian security posts in Gaza. In the following days, the air raids were expanded; hospitals, homes, blacksmith workshops, schools, mosques, ambulances, media and UN relief efforts were targeted.  

Day and night, the entire Palestinian coastal region has been under attack. On Saturday, January 3rd, 2009, Israeli terrorist ground forces entered the Gaza strip and have since divided Gaza into two sections. The Israeli terrorist government decided on Sunday night to intensify its operation in Gaza and extend hostilities to "phase three".  

Al-Mujhadein Brigades launch two shells as Israeli TV reports fewer projectiles

Date: 13 / 01 / 2009  Time:  11:36
Gaza - Ma’an -

In a statement sent Tuesday morning the Al-Mujahideen Brigades, affiliated with Fatah, announced that they launched two projectiles at the Be’eri area south west of Gaza City Monday night.

The announcement comes amidst Israeli claims that the number of projectiles fired at the western Naqab region has slowed since the start of the 18 day offensive targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades have continued to launch projectiles, as have dozens of other military wings of parties like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) Fatah, Islamic Jihad and several other smaller factions composed mostly of large family groups.

Offensive continues in Gaza; 917 killed, more than 4,260 wounded

Tuesday January 13, 2009 03:21 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli terrorist army continued its offensive against the Gaza Strip for the seventeenth day on Monday, killing 26 Palestinians, including 23 civilians, and wounding dozens of residents. At least 917 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,260 injured since the Israelis initiated its initial air bombardment on December 27th.  Of the dead, 283 are children.

Image by PCHR

On Monday evening, the Israeli terrorist air forces shelled several areas in Gaza while the Army fired artillery shells. One medic was killed when the Israeli Army fired a missile at an ambulance rushing to rescue a number of residents who were wounded in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

The attack came shortly after a previous shelling that targeted a parked vehicle, near Al-Khulafa' mosque, in the center of Jabalia refugee camp. One youth was in the vehicle and his body was severely mutilated. A Child was also killed as he was near the shelled vehicle.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), in Gaza, reported that the Israeli attacks on Monday led to the death of 26 Palestinians, including six children and three women.

23 of the 26 residents killed on Monday were unarmed civilians, the PCHR added.

The PCHR also reported that on Monday, at approximately 7pm, Israeli tanks shelled a home in al-Shuja'iya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, and killed one resident identified as Wajeeh Moshtaha, age 24. When dozens of residents rushed to the shelled house in an attempt to rescue the survivors, the Israelis fired another shell, killing two brothers identified as Mohammad and Mondher Mahmoud Al-Jondy, age 20 and age 30.

Earlier on Monday, a 15-year old girl, identified as Aayat Al-Banna, was killed after the Israeli terrorist army shelled a house near her parents' home in Jabalia.

Two more Palestinians were killed and at least 10 others were injured when the Israeli Air Force shelled The Palestine Square in the center of Gaza City.

Dr. Mu'awiya Hassanain, director of the Emergency Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said that three of the wounded residents suffered serious wounds as they lost parts of their bodies due to the blast.

Medical sources in Jabalia said that two Palestinians, including one child, were also killed in a separate Israeli shellings in Jabalia. Their bodies were moved to Kamal Adwan Hospital.