Date: 17 / 01 / 2009  Time:  15:25
Gaza – Ma’an/Agencies –

Two Israeli soldiers and two officers were wounded in after mortars launched by Palestinian fighters hit them on the outskirts of Gaza City.

While the Israeli military confirmed that the four were wounded in an exchange of fire, the officials said that the incident is still being investigated, and that they could not rule out a “friendly fire” incident.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas said that they bombed an Israeli tank in Al-Mughraqa, on the southern outskirts of Gaza City, and exchanged fire with Israeli troops in the same location.

Israeli tanks and ground troops had withdrawn on Friday morning to the ruins of the Israeli settlement Nitzarim, to the south of Gaza City, after operating for 24-hours deep in the urban center of Gaza.

The Al-Qassam Brigades also said they fired eight homemade rockets at Israeli troops to the west of Al-Shati Refugee Camp, and two more at Israeli jeeps east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

In a joint attack that included Islamic Jihad fighters and a group called the Eagles of Palestine, Hamas said they attacked Netzarim wit three homemade projectiles at 9:30pm on Friday.

The Al-Qassam Brigades also claimed responsibility for launching two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Ofakim. Israeli reports indicated that one projectile struck an empty building near the town, causing no injuries.

The group also said they launched Russian-made Grad missiles at a military base and the town of Netivot.

Another group calling themselves the Yasser Arafat Brigades said they launched three projectiles at the town of Sderot at 1am on Saturday.
The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claimed to have launched two projectiles at Sderot overnight.

Another group calling themselves Hizbullah in Palestine, after the Lebanese Shia movement, claimed that they used suicide bombers to attack Israeli troops near the Al-Zahra Tower in Gaza City.

In the attack which they also claim involved machine gun-fire, two soldiers were allegedly killed.

Medics recover two bodies near Khan Younis

Date: 17 / 01 / 2009  Time:  14:03
Gaza – Ma’an –

Palestinian medical crews recovered the bodies of two brothers who were killed by Israeli fire in the Al-Fakhari area east of Khan Younis on Saturday.

The dead were identified as Ibrahim Muhammad Sharab and Kassab Muhammad Sharab.Their father was wounded and was taken to a hospital.

The head of Ambulances and Emergency Services in the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr Mu’awiya Hassanain said that 13 people have been killed in Gaza so far on Saturday, most of them as a result of phosphorus munitions. He said that a number of the bodies have been so badly burned that they cannot be identified.

The death toll in Gaza is now 1,205. Among them are 410 children, 108 women, 113 elderly people, and five foreign nationals.

Hassanain said that Israeli attacks have destroyed 15 clinics and damaged several ambulances.