Jihad armed wing denies its slain operatives were planning to fire rockets

[ 26/09/2009 - 09:14 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, denied that its three operatives who were killed by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Friday evening were planning a rocket attack on Israeli targets.

Abu Ahmed, the armed wing's spokesman, said in a statement that the martyrs were on an ordinary mission and did not plan to fire rockets or any other military operation.

He said that his armed wing would retaliate at the opportune time and place to the "cowardly" killing of its three members.

The armed wing said in a statement that the three Kamel Al-Dahdouh, Mahmoud Al-Banna and Mohammed Marshud were visiting other activists when an IOF air raid targeted their car.

Medical sources said that the three were killed on the spot while a fourth man was hospitalized for serious wounds.

The armed wing and other resistance factions fired a number of projectiles at IOF outposts south of the Gaza Strip on Friday night in retaliation to the crime.

Israeli occupation army assassinates three fighters in Gaza

Friday September 25, 2009 22:54 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, reported Friday evening that three of its fighters were assassinated by the Israeli occupation army in Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City.

The Brigades said that the fighters were identified as Kamel Khalid Al-Dahdouh, 21, Mahmoud Mousa Al-Banna, 24, and Mohammad Marshoud, 22.  Al-Banna is the brother of Hasan, who was also assassinated previously by the Israeli occupation forces.

The fighters were driving a vehicle in Al-Tuffah crowded neighborhood when the Israeli air force fired a missile at them.

Abu Ahmad, leader of the Brigades, said that the three fighters were on an ‘ordinary mission’, not on their way to fire homemade shells, and that their assassination calls for retaliation. The Israeli occupation army confirmed the attack and said that the military and Shin Bet security personnel were operating in the area.  The army added that a military jet struck the fighters’ vehicle.

The army claimed that the fighters were on their way to fire shells into Israel, and that the military strike took place before they managed to do so, Israeli Ynet News reported.

The Ynet added that according to the army, the fighters stepped out of their vehicle and started unloading their military gear before they were assassinated.

Nafedh Azzam, a senior political leader of the Islamic Jihad, said that “this crime is a message from Israel to the trilateral meeting held in New York”.

Azzam added that the assassination is a clear indication that Israel is not interested in any political solution.

Fawzi Barhoum of Hamas said that the assassination is the outcome of political Palestinian-Israeli meetings, and added that the ‘Zionist enemy should be met by unified resistance”.

Three Palestinians Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Gaza

Published yesterday (updated) 25/09/2009 22:07

Gaza - Ma'an -

Three Palestinian fighters were killed and another injured in an Israeli airstrike on the northeastern Gaza Strip on Saturday night, according to Palestinian medics and the de facto government's Ministry of the Interior.

"Preliminary reports are three dead and a number injured," said Ihab Al-Ghusain, a spokesman for Gaza's Interior Ministry.

Dr Mu'awiyah Hassanain, head of ambulance and emergency services at the Health Ministry there, identified the deceased as Kamel Al-Dahdouh, Mahmoud Al-Bana and Mohammad Marshud.

Ma'an's correspondent, reporting from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said the three were affiliated with Islamic Jihad's armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, and that one was the son of former Al-Quds leader Khaled Al-Dahdouh. The men were killed by a warplane that targeted their car as they drove on Al-Jaru Street in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, according to our correspondent.

A spokesman for Israeli occupation forces confirmed the airstrike, and said the men were en route to launch projectiles toward the western Negev. He said the same group had launched two projectiles toward the southern Israeli town of Sderot in recent weeks.

Abu Ahmad, a representative for Jihad's armed wing, also confirmed in a statement that the three "were on a standard mission" when their car was struck, and warned that the attack would not go unanswered.

"This shelling allows the [Al-Quds] Brigades and other factions to respond," he said, adding that Israeli occupation forces would be responsible for any repercussions of its attack.