Israel launches air attack on central Gaza, clashes reported

Published today (updated) 20/02/2010 14:04

Gaza – Ma'an –

Three Palestinians were injured when Israeli occupation forces helicopters fired on a group of resistance fighters near the central Gaza military base Kissufim following reports of clashes in the area early Saturday morning.

Security sources said armored Israeli vehicles at Kissufim had fired shells at areas in the south-central border region, following an attack on the base by resistance fighters. Witnesses said the fighters were less than 100 meters away from the military post.

An Israeli  occupation forces spokesman said soldiers "identified armed men moving along the security fence" toward the army base and fired "in their direction." He noted the detonation of an explosive device in the same area two days earlier, which injured a soldier.

Muawiya Hassanein, head of emergency and ambulance services in Gaza, confirmed the injury of three Gaza residents undergoing treatment at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Shortly after the incident, officials with the armed wings of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and Fatah, the National Resistance and the Al-Aqsa Brigades respectively, said two of the three injured were affiliated with the groups.

In a joint statement, the groups said they targeted four Israeli military jeeps, resulting in gunfire clashes, as well as the launch of a rocket propelled grenade by the forces east of the the town of Al-Qarara, where the Kissufim military base is stationed.

A separate statement from the Al-Naser Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, said they also clashed with Israeli troops near Kissufim Saturday morning.

The An-Nasser statement said militants fired on an Israeli army hummer, and that 15 minutes of fire exchange saw the Israeli vehicle withdraw.

On Thursday, Israeli  occupation forces entered deep into the Gaza Strip during day-long clashes, the military confirmed. Four tanks and a bulldozer penetrated 900 meters in the Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp area and demolished two homes.

During the week of 10-16 February, a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report said "violence escalated in areas along the Gaza-Israel border." One resistance fighter was killed, a second injured, and five civilians, including three children, were injured by Israeli fire. According to OCHA, an Israeli shell damaged the home of three girls, who were all injured in the attack.

The violence coincides with increased Israeli activity inside the Gaza borders, with OCHA reporting five separate penetrations where Israeli military equipment "conducted land leveling operations."

Israeli occupation soldiers shoot and injure two workers from Yatta

Published today (updated) 20/02/2010 13:52

Hebron – Ma'an –

 Israeli occupation soldiers manning a military checkpoint southeast of Yatta shot and injured two Palestinian workers on Saturday, local sources said.

The two, attempting to enter Israel for work, were driving in an Israeli-plated car toward the Beit Yatir checkpoint from Jinba village, at the southernmost edge of the eastern West Bank. When soldiers tried to stop the car, the two fled north toward Yatta, sources said.

When the men refused to stop for the soldiers, they reportedly opened fire.

Ahmed Al-Jubour, director of Al-'Itimad Hospital in Yatta, said 23-year-old Ghalib Id’eis was hit in the head with shrapnel, while his relative and 26-year-old Sulaiman Id’eis sustained wounds to his left hand. Sulaiman was treated at the Government Hospital in Hebron.

Mayor of Yatta Zahran Abu Qubaita visited the workers in hospital, and condemned the Israeli attack on civilians, saying they were only trying to earn a living and support their families.

Neither of the men had permits to work in Israel, and were attempting to enter and earn under-the-table income. Wages, though well below the legal minimum wage for legal employees in Israel, are still above what workers receive in many jobs in the southern West Bank.