Two Palestinians wounded east of Gaza

[ 28/05/2010 - 04:09 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Two Palestinians were wounded in Gaza on Thursday evening as a result of Israeli occupation forces shelling, while Palestinian resistance fighters succeeded in destroying an Israeli occupation army vehicle.

Eyewitnesses told PIC correspondent that the Israeli artillery shells fell on different areas of Gaza City, including the industrial zone and Abu Ajwa farms to the east of Shejaeyyah wounding one person.

In the meantime Israeli occupation aircraft fired two rockets at the Zaitoun neighbourhood to the south east of Gaza City wounding another person according to eyewitnesses.

Explosion in south takes out Khan Younis power line

Published yesterday (updated) 28/05/2010 16:01

Gaza – Ma'an –

Khan Younis went dark Friday afternoon following what Gaza Power officials said was Israeli fire directed toward the main line providing electricity to the southern Gaza Strip city.

The report followed hours after the Eagles of Palestine Brigades said fighters ambushed Israeli occupation forces patrolling the occupied border area east of Khan Younis in the Shaikh Hamoudah area.

At the time, an Israeli occupation forces spokesman said he was familiar with any reports of fire near the southern border area.

Head of the electricity company's public relations division Jamal Al-Bardasawi said Israeli occupation soldiers were deployed on the eastern borders of Khan Younis mid-day on Friday, and "opened fire on the electricity line the provides the city with power causing blackouts across large swaths of the grid."

Al-Bardasawi said the lines that were taken out provide some 55% of available power to the city, and caused some 75% of homes and businesses to lose power.

The official said the grid had just turned back on following the scheduled overnight blackout when the line was damaged, noting that the planned 8-hour window for power in the city would not be able to go forward. "This means that people will not even be able to pump water," he said.

Power crews were dispatched to the area to fix the lines, but are proceeding with caution following reports of clashes in the area by resistance factions.

Palestine Eagles say clash with Israeli occupation forces

A statement from the brigades said the Eagles, affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said an Israeli patrol car was ambushed by explosives the group planted, and resulted in an exchange of fire between fighters and forces.

Fire from Israeli guard towers was aimed on the fighters, the statement continued, allowing the soldiers to retreat.

An Israeli military spokesman said no such incident had been reported.

The Eagles statement said the ambush was retribution for ongoing Israeli attacks on the people of Gaza.

Week of violence hits civilians hard

Thursday night strikes hit two locations in the northern Gaza Strip, injuring six. Reports were unclear how many of the injured were members of the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, which claimed to have launched three mortar shells at nearby Israeli forces.

Wednesday also saw violence, with Israeli air strikes hitting a training area for Hamas-affiliated fighters. The strikes injured some 31 people, according to a UN Weekly Protection of Civilians Report produced by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, including several children.