Said Seyam martyred in an Israeli occupation airstrike

[ 15/01/2009 - 09:16 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Sa'id Seyam, a prominent Hamas leader and Interior Minister of the elected government of Ismail Haniya, was martyred Thursday evening along with his son, his brother and his brother's wife in an Israeli airstrike at a house in the Yarmouk neighbourhood at the centre of Gaza city.

Hamas sources said that Seyam was martyred when Israeli occupation airforce bombed the house of Shaikh Eyad Seyam, the brother of Said Seyam during a visit by the latter to his brother's house.

The bodyguard of Said Seyam was also martyred in the attack along with his brother and his brother's wife.

Four other citizens from a neighbouring house were killed in the airstrike, three of them children.

Eyewitnesses said that Israeli occupation terrorist airplanes fired two rockets at the house of Said Seyams brother.

Hamas mourned Said Seyam saying that leaders of the movement were always at the forefront and that Seyam has joined previous martyrs of the movement such as Shaikh Ahmad Yassin, Dr. Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi, Ibrahim al-Maqadmah, Ismail Abu Shanab, Jamal Mansoor, Jamal Salim, Salah Shehadah and Dr. Nizar al-Rayan.

Said Seyam was born on 22 July 1959 at the Shati' Rafugee camp to the west of Gaza City as his family was uprooted in 1948 from the village of Joara near the city of Asqalan.

He graduated at the Teachers College in Ramallah in 1980 with a Diploma in teaching science and math. He earned a degree in Islamic Studies from the Jerusalem Open University in 2000.

He taught at UNRWA schools in Gaza from 1980 till 2003 when he resigned as a result of harassment of the employer because of his political affiliation.

He worked as a voluntary Imam of the Yarmouk Mosque in Gaza city as well as other mosques in the Gaza Strip.

He participated in the reconciliation committees formed by late Shaikh Ahmed Yassin during the first intifada.

He was a trustee of the Islamic university, a founder member of the Future Research Centre, head of external relations department and a member of the political leadership of the Hamas movement.

He was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006 and was appointed Interior Minister in the tenth PA government.

He was married and a father of six children.

Israel assassinates de facto interior minister, nine others

Date: 15 / 01 / 2009  Time:  18:32
Gaza – Ma’an/Agencies –

The Israeli military assassinated de facto Interior Minister Sa’eed Seyam in an airstrike on Thursday.

His brother and son were also killed in the blast, according to news reports.

In addition to Syam, nine others were killed in the strike, which reportedly targeted a senior Islamic Jihad leader and the head of the Al-Qassam Brigades, an armed faction affiliated with Hamas.

Aluf Benn, a military correspondent, said Israeli intelligence confirmed the presence of Seyam and his staff near his brother’s home before ordering the assassination.

Hamas announced a period of mourning over the assassination of Seyam, who was a member of the movement’s politburo, in addition to his role at the de facto Interior Ministry. Seyam was appointed to the post shortly after Hamas won legislative elections in 2006.

Hamas condemned the killing of Seyam’s son, brother Iyad and sister-in-law, as well as her son, who was killed along with four other neighbors near the home. Ten Palestinians were killed in the airstrike, including Syam and five of his family members.

***Updated 22:43 Gaza time

20th day under attack: Tanks enter Gaza City

Thursday January 15, 2009 10:26 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

Death toll reaches 1,066 as thousands of Palestinians flee the shelling

Thousands of Gazans left their homes and fled Gaza City on Thursday as Israeli military tanks stormed the city.

Rami Al-Meghari, IMEMC corresponded in Gaza, said that Israeli tanks have moved into the Gaza City center, near a United Nations relief compound.  The tanks have been randomly shelling residential areas.  

Rami added that "as tanks proceeded into the city, thousands of families fearing for their lives left their homes, and fled to other parts of Gaza City."  As tanks continued their onslaught, the Israeli Air Force bombarded the town of Beit Hanoon, located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.  

As the offensive continues for the 20th day, Dr. Mu'awiyah Hassanain, director of the Emergency and Ambulance department in the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told news agencies that the death toll in Gaza by Thursday morning now stands at 1,066 Palestinians, among them 333 children. He added that the number of those injured has reached a total of 4,900 today, among them 400 are in critical condition.  

The Israeli terrorist army embarked on its military offensive on Saturday, December 27th, 2008. Israeli warplanes began the military operation by shelling every possible Palestinian security post 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 ground forces entered the Gaza strip, but have encountered a strong resistance amongst local armed factions.

1,033 killed and at least 4,580 wounded in ongoing Israeli offensive

Thursday January 15, 2009 00:49 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli Army continued its offensive against the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing at least 22 Palestinians. Dr. Muawiya Hassanen, of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported that 1,033 Palestinians have so far been killed and 4,580 wounded in the ongoing Israeli attacks.

On Wednesday night, medical sources reported that five Palestinians were killed, and at least seven wounded when the Israeli Army shelled the home of Abu Waheed Moussa, a civilian living in al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City.

Another resident was killed when the Israelis shelled Tal al-Hawa neighborhood.

Also, a UNRWA employee was seriously wounded when the Israeli Army shelled a clearly marked UN vehicle in Tal al-Hawa.

One resident was killed when the Israelis shelled a residential tower, north of Gaza City. Eight medics and one cameraman were wounded in the attack.

Medical sources said that a Palestinian child died on Wednesday of wounds sustained three days ago after the Israeli Army shelled his parents' home.

Another resident was killed in al-Boreij refugee camp, and six other residents were wounded.

Four more Palestinians, including a 15-year old child, were killed when the Israelis shelled al-Qarara in Rafah.

Two residents were killed and several others were wounded when the Israeli Army shelled open areas and areas believed to have tunnels built underground, near Rafah.

Two women and an 18-month old infant were killed in a shelling in Rafah. Five residents, including two children, were wounded.

In Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, in Gaza City, the Israelis shelled a four-story home inhibited by 50 family members, killing two residents; one of them was 81 years old.

The al-Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, said that two of its fighters were killed; one of them in the former Nitzarim settlement, and the second in Khuza'a town, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular resistance Committees, said that two brothers, both members of the popular resistance, were killed in Rafah. A third fighter was seriously wounded after the Israeli Army fired a missile at his motorcycle.

Medical sources in al-Shifa Hospital reported that three residents died at an Egyptian hospital of wounds sustained on December 27th, when the Israelis shelled all governmental facilities.

The al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said that one of its fighters was killed after he broke into a home which was used as a hideout by the under-cover forces of the Israeli military; a number of soldiers were reportedly killed and wounded in the incident.

Furthermore, the Red Cross said that its medics uncovered two bodies buried under the rubble of a home shelled by the Israelis on Wednesday evening.

Three fighters were killed at dawn in Jabalia, and two fighters were killed in al-Sabra in Gaza City.

Three Palestinians were killed in al-Shaty' refugee camp, west of Gaza City, after the Israeli Army fired several shells at a number of homes.

Several residents were injured in al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, after the Israelis shelled at least one home.

Death toll of Israeli aggression on Gaza rises to more than 1, 040 Palestinians

[ 15/01/2009 - 11:02 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The continued Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip has claimed the lives of more than 1, 040 Palestinians and led to the injury of 5, 000 others, mostly civilians, according to medical reports issued on Wednesday morning.

Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency in the health ministry, told the PIC reporter yesterday that the death toll of the Israeli aggression included 333 children and 95 women, pointing that the medical staff were not able to recover many bodies of Palestinian citizens buried under the rubble of bombed houses on the outskirts of Gaza.

The Palestinian resistance on Wednesday evening fired a number of Grad rockets on the settlement of Ashdod and Ashkelon located in the north of Gaza. Three rockets hit a large factory of chemical fertilizers in Ashdod which burst into flames.

The IOA said that the Palestinian resistance fired only two Grad rockets on Ashdod and Ashkelon, adding that six Israelis suffered states of shock after the attacks.

The IOF troops claimed the injury of 16 soldiers during confrontations with the Palestinian resistance on the outskirts of Gaza on Wednesday.

In a communiqué received by the PIC, Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, affirmed that its fighters killed and wounded at noon Wednesday a number of IOF troops who were hiding inside a Palestinian house, noting that the operation was videotaped.

Al-Qassam Brigades explained that its fighters fired more than 10 RPGs at the house located in the Twam area, northeast of Gaza city, and then engaged in armed clashes with the IOF troops killing and wounding a number of them.