Nine injured as Israeli warplanes strike Khan Younis, Rafah

Date: 29 / 01 / 2009  Time:  09:19
Gaza – Ma’an –

Nine Palestinians, most of them children were wounded when an Israeli terrorist forces warplane fired a missile aimed at two Palestinian fighters in the city of Khan Younis, in Southern Gaza on Thursday morning.

Witnesses said that the strike was aimed at two Al-Nasser Brigades gunmen who were on a motorcycle in front of the Nasser Hospital. Eight young students were injured and were taken inside the hospital for treatment. Medics said some of the eight are seriously injured, and others moderately. The Israeli military has not yet confirmed the report.

The attacks, along with an overnight airstrike, are the most severe Israeli actions in Gaza since a unilateral ceasefire was declared nearly two weeks ago.

Also on Thursday a Health Ministry official said that the corpse of a woman from the Abu Sultan family returned from Egypt after doctors failed to save her life. Mu'awiya Hassanain, the director of Ambulance and Emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry said that the Overall death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza has climbed to 1,355.

Israel bombs Rafah

Overnight, Israeli warplanes bombed the area near the Egyptian border in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Witnesses said that Israeli warplanes fired missiles at the As-Salam district of Rafah in addition to a local metal workshop allegedly used in the manufacture of homemade projectiles that are fired into Israel. There were no reports of injuries.

The Israeli military confirmed the airstrikes on Rafah, saying that it was in response to one homemade rocket that landed east of the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli authorities the projectile landed in the Eshkol Regional Council on Wednesday night, causing no injuries or damage.

After the early morning airstrike, another projectile landed near the Israeli border town of Sderot, also causing no injuries or damage.

A unit of the Al-Aqsa Brigades called the Thabet Thabet Group, claimed responsibility for firing one such projectile from northern Gaza in response to what it termed “Israel’s repeated crimes.” The Al-Aqsa Brigades are the armed wing of the Fatah movement, but have no relation to the movement’s leader, President Mahmoud Abbas.

Meanwhile Israeli tanks invaded Gaza near the town of Deir Al-Balah, bulldozing agricultural land. The tanks withdrew in the early morning.

Separately the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas and the Al-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, claimed responsibility for firing mortar shells at Israeli forces who entered Maghazi Refugee Camp, in middle Gaza.

The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad also claimed to have shelled Israeli military vehicles east of Rafah.


***Updated at 12:35 Gaza time

Israeli warplanes raid Gaza-Egypt border

Thursday January 29, 2009 10:39 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC&Agencies

Israeli terrorist forces warplanes on Thursday dawn hit the Gaza-Egypt border line in southern Gaza and a metal workshop in the area.

Witnesses said that Israeli warplanes shelled the Assalam neighborhood in the area, and that a metal workshop in the city was also hit during the air strikes. Meanwhile, Israeli tanks that invaded the eastern parts of Dair El-Balah in central Gaza Strip yesterday pulled back after Israeli bulldozers razed vast areas of Palestinian-owned lands.

Gaza-based resistance factions resumed homemade shell-fire into nearby Israeli towns, as the Israeli attacks continued in the area despite the ceasefire declaration on January 18th in the wake of a three-week Israeli massive attacks on the coastal region.  Israeli media reports that a number of homemade shells landed in nearby southern Israeli areas.  No causalities have been reported.

Khan Younis: Unmanned Israeli plane fires a missile at civilians, injuring six

Thursday January 29, 2009 12:05 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies

Six Palestinian were injured when an unmanned Israeli plane fired a missile at a group of civilians in Khan Younis city, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning.  

Witnesses said that the missile targeted a motorcyclist driving on the road near al-Nasser hospital.  Doctors said that the driver and five children, from a nearby UN run school, where injured by the attack.  

Meanwhile, Palestinian resistance groups said that they fired two home-made shells at Israeli targets near the Gaza Strip in response to Israel's continue attacks on Gaza. Israeli sources said that Palestinian shells landed in open areas in northern Israel, causing no injures.  

Last week, Israeli naval boats violated the declared ceasefire in Gaza on a number of occasions.  On Thursday of last week, Israeli Navy forces opened fire on Palestinian fishermen just off the shore of Gaza City, injuring seven civilians. A day earlier, Israeli warships fired shells at the coast line, causing damage, but no injuries.

Israel announced the unilateral ceasefire on Sunday January 17th, 2009, after the Israeli Army embarked on a 22-day military offensive which began on Saturday, December 27th, 2008. Homes, schools, mosques, UN centers, and media agencies were attacked by Israeli air, sea, and ground forces leaving at least 1,330 Palestinians dead.  

Yesterday, on Wednesday at dawn, Israeli warplanes bombarded the Gaza-Egypt border, destroying a number of underground tunnels used by Palestinians to bring in essential goods and commodities from Egypt, while Israel continues the closure of all border crossings, now lasting a total of 20 months.

Witnesses said that the warplanes fired three missiles toward the border area, and that some damage was inflicted to nearby Palestinian-owned houses. A spokesperson of the Israeli Army confirmed that the Israeli air raids on the area came in response to Tuesday's blast of a military jeep on the southeastern Gaza-Israel border, in which one Israeli soldier was killed, and three others were injured.

On Tuesday, Israeli tanks moved into Palestinian areas close to the location of the blast, while military bulldozers razed vast areas of Palestinian-owned lands. Immediately after the explosion, caused by a roadside bomb, an Israeli drone fired a missile toward a motorcyclist in the southern Khan Younis town, severely wounding him.    

Armed groups launch seven projectiles toward invading Israeli forces

Date: 28 / 01 / 2009  Time:  16:34
Gaza – Ma’an –

The military wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for firing seven shells toward an Israeli terrorist special forces unit, which invaded the Palestinian territory east of Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

The Al-Qassam Brigades said it launched the projectiles in coordination with the Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades, which is the militant wing of the Popular Resistance Committees.

In a statement, Al-Qassam said one of its groups managed to fire three 90 millimeter rockets toward the Israeli force east of the refugee camp in central Gaza.

The operation came “in response to the continuous Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people,” the Hamas affiliates noted in the statement.

In turn, the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the other four projectiles launched at Israeli installations east of Al-Maghazi, saying it would continue to attack forces invading the besieged coastal strip.