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

Israeli jet fighters attack the house of, Sa'ed Seyam, a Hams leader, killing him and six others

Thursday January 15, 2009 19:19 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Hamas movement confirmed that Sa'ed Sayam, the Palestinian Interior Minster in the Hamas-led deposed government, was killed along with six others when Israeli jet fighters attacked his home in Gaza City.  

Sa'ed Seyam - Photo by Maan News

Palestinian Medical sources stated that Israeli jet fighters fired several missiles at the Hams leader's home, killing him, his son, his brother Eyad and at least another three people. The Israeli Army reported that troops had spotted Seyam in his home, then proceded to launch an attack.  

Local sources said that among those killed was Saleh Abu Sharekh, the leader of Hamas' internal security department. Up until the time of this report, no confirmation was made regarding his death.  

Seyam is the second top Hamas official to be extra judicially killed by the Israeli Army.  Two weeks ago, Israeli jet fighters attacked the home of Nizar Rayyan, a Hamas leader in Jabalyia town, killing him and 10 members of his family.  

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the death toll in Gaza now stands at 1,097 people by Thursday evening, including 335 children.  The number of those injured has reached 5,000, among them 400 are in critical condition.  

Thousands of Gazans left their homes and fled from Gaza City on Thursday as Israeli military tanks stormed the city. Israeli tanks moved into the city centre, near a United Nations relief compound. The tanks randomly shelled residential areas forcing thousands to leave their homes.  

While others were trapped inside their homes, Mohamed Al-Hadad, one of the many who are stranded, told IMEMC that "there are two tanks under the building where I live, and they are shooting at anything that moves."  He added, "we have had no electricity since last night, there is also no water.  We can't even think about food or water, our concern is just to stay alive because they shoot at anything."  

Among the targets also attacked today was the headquarters of media agencies in Gaza City; two journalists were injured. For the third time in less than two weeks, the Israeli Army attacked the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) main headquarters in Gaza City.

Three civilians where injured and fire destroyed some of the aid supplies stored there. Sami Al-Mishashi, the Spokesman of the UNRWA said that "This is not the first or second time they have attacked us, in the past 48 hours they continue to shell our centers, the latest was the main headquarters,"  

AlMishashi-  added, "where our main aid and fuel supplies were, they shelled it, there are also 750 civilians hiding inside, we have lost a lot of our food supply due to the fire, we are now trying to put out the fire and are trying to get the center working again."  

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is providing 700,000 Palestinian refugees living in Gaza with their daily food requirements. Since the Israeli attack on Gaza began, UNRWA schools became a shelter for those people that fled the shelling.  

On Tuesday of last week, a UN run school was attacked. At least 43 civilians were killed and 100 others wounded when the Israeli troops launched an attack on the school in the northern Gaza town of Jabaliya. On Thursday of the same week, the military attacked an aid convoy for the UNRWA, killing a driver and injuring another.

The Israeli Army embarked on its military offensive on Saturday, December 27th, 2008.  

Israeli ground forces advance on Gaza City as UN compound, hospitals, media building attacked

Date: 15 / 01 / 2009  Time:  09:33
Gaza – Ma’an –

 Israeli ground forces backed by tanks invaded Gaza City from the south on Thursday morning while warplanes bombed the city center, causing thousands to flee their homes.

In the southern Gaza City neighborhood of Tel Al-Hawa, gunfire and fierce clashes with Palestinian fighters have been reported. Witnesses said the tanks have reached Awan Street, the farthest Israeli forces have entered since the beginning of the invasion.

In the southern Rimal neighborhood, just to the north of Tel Al-Hawa, witnesses reported seeing dozens of families in their bedclothes in the streets, fleeing the Israeli onslaught on foot.

In Tel Al-Hawa, Al-Quds Hospital went up in flames after it came under Israeli shelling. Workers at the Palestine Red Crescent facility said they fear the fire could cause an explosion due to the fuel stored in the hospital's warehouse.

Dr Bashar Murad, the head of emergency services at Al-Quds Hospital, told Ma’an that three Israeli missiles hit the hospital, two of them containing white phosphorus. Shrapnel from the bombs was scattered in the hospital but no one was injured. Fire has engulfed the hospital’s administration building, a storehouse, and a pharmacy.

Murad said that up to 600 people had fled Tel Al-Hawa and areas around the hospital.

Meanwhile, UN's relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says Israeli shells struck their headquarters in Gaza City, injuring three workers. The compound includes the UNRWA offices, warehouses and a school. As many as 700 Palestinians had taken refuge in the compound, which is still on fire.

The United Nations is claiming that shells were laced with the controversial chemical weapon, white phosphorus.

Separately, Israeli forces attacked a media compound home to the Reuters news agency, NBC, and a number of Arab networks in Gaza City late on Thursday morning. Two journalists working for Abu Dhabi television were injured when at least one Israeli shell struck the building.

The Mujahedin Brigades said that two fighters have been killed in street battles with Israeli forces in Tel Al-Hawa. They were identified as Ahmad Al-Bitar and Ahed Abu Asi.

Another 21 Gazans were confirmed killed in heavy overnight shelling. According to senior officials at the Palestinian Health Ministry, the official death toll is now 1,054. More than 4,600 have been wounded in two and a half weeks of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Israeli forces shelled a store near Al-Karama towers in Gaza City, the Bashir mosque, and the Al-Arqam school in eastern Gaza City.

The Israel's air force said it attacked more than 70 targets in Gaza, in what appeared to be heavier-than-usual bombing. Heavy artillery shelling was also reported in Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya, north of Gaza City, and in Khan Younis, in the south of the Strip.

On Thursday morning the Israeli military said it would continue the operation in Gaza despite reports that Hamas had accepted an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire.

***Updated at 17:56 Gaza Time

Gaza toll reaches 1,095; more than 5,000 injured

Date: 15 / 01 / 2009  Time:  17:41
Gaza – Ma’an –

At least 1,095 Palestinians have been killed in 20 days of the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, a senior Palestinian health official told Ma’an on Thursday.

According to Dr Mu’awiyah Hassanain, the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Health Ministry in Gaza, 5,027 have been injured.

UN building hit with white phosphorus, officials say

Date: 15 / 01 / 2009  Time:  16:42
Gaza – Ma’an –

Israeli jets fired a controversial chemical weapon on a United Nations facility in Gaza City on Thursday, UN officials are now claiming.

The building was struck by as many as three shells containing white phosphorus, an incendiary compound banned by the Geneva Convention for use against civilians, according to the UN.

Three Palestinians were injured at the compound, which was marked with UN flags before Israeli forces opened fire. The UN had provided its GPS coordinates to Israeli military personnel, as well. About 700 displaced Palestinians were inside the building when it was targeted by Israel's air force.

Since late December, Israeli officials have repeatedly denied that their military uses the chemical weapon, but UN and Red Cross officials in Gaza say they are all but certain the substance was used on the UN compound building.

“We know it was white phosphorus because of the way the fires burned, as well as the color of some of the charred vehicles and other damage,” said UN spokesperson Adnan Abu-Hasna.

Chris Gunness, an official with the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, confirmed Abu-Hasna's claims on the weapon, saying shells contained the dangerous chemical compound.

“It looks like phosphorus, it smells like phosphorus and it burns like phosphorus,” he said.

Because the incendiary component thrives on oxygen, the weapon’s effects are extremely dangerous and often deadly.

"White phosphorus cannot be put out with water,” Gunness explained. "You can’t put it out with traditional methods such as fire extinguishers.”

"You need sand but we do not have any sand in the compound," he added.

The UN building continued to burn into mid-afternoon Thursday. UN spokesperson Adnan Abu-Hasna told Ma’an that it was not immediately clear if the facility was targeted due its use by the United Nations.

“I don’t know why they would do this,” he explained. “We had guarantees.”

“They have all our coordinates in the Gaza Strip, in the whole Middle East actually,” he said. “They know where we are and what we are doing.”

Everything was quiet until “suddenly they were shelling the compound,” Abu-Hasna said. “At this point we are in shock.”

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon was in Tel Aviv at the time of the attack, which drew immediate condemnation. "I conveyed my strong protest and outrage to the defense minister and the foreign minister and demanded a full investigation," Ki-Moon later said.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak reportedly told the UN leader the attack was a mistake.

Although white phosphorus is banned for use against civilians or civilian areas, it is not actually prohibited under international law in some scenarios, such as lighting a battlefield.

Gaza City is one of the most densely populated places in the world and the chemical weapon’s alleged use there has caused serious injuries to civilians, killing dozens.

Israel's navy stops medical aid boat en route to Gaza

Date: 15 / 01 / 2009  Time:  11:00
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Israel’s Navy forced a ship carrying more than a ton of medical supplies to the Gaza Strip to turn back on the high seas early on Thursday morning.

According to the human rights advocates who chartered the 22-meter Spirit of Humanity, Israeli gunboats surrounded the ship in international waters, about 100 miles from Gaza.

Organizers at the Free Gaza organization said they sent an official notification to the Israeli government informing them of their intention to sail to Gaza in defiance of a naval blockade. Cypriot authorities inspected the boat before it left the port of Lanarca on Tuesday.

According to passengers on the boat, the Israeli warships radioed the Spirit of Humanity and then surrounded the ship, threatening to shoot if it did not turn back.

The ship is carrying 21 passengers, including doctors, journalists, and European members of parliament, as well as a shipment of bandages, IV bags, antibiotics and other medicines for Gaza hospitals.

Free Gaza organized four successful voyages to Gaza since August, 2008. The last attempt, however, ended on 30 December when an Israeli gunboat rammed another ship, the Dignity, which was then diverted to Lebanon for repairs.