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Conflict
Kassam rocket hits Ashkelon region
Jerusalem Post 1/31/2009
Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip fired a Kassam rocket at Israel on Saturday morning, the third since both Israel and Hamas declared cease-fires on January 18. Masked Palestinian terrorists from Islamic Jihad place Kassam rockets before later firing them towards Israel on the outskirts of Gaza City. The rocket landed in an open area near a kibbutz in the Ashkelon area. There were no reports of casualties or damage in the attack. Prior to the rocket landing, ’Color Red’ sirens sounded in the area, prompting residents to seek shelter. On Thursday, a rocket was fired at the Sha’ar Hanegev region, and on Wednesday another landed in the Eskol region. Both rockets landed in open areas, causing no casualties or damage. more.. e-mail
NIS 200m spent on new W. Bank settlement
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 2/1/2009
Israel has invested close to NIS 200 million during the past two years in preparing infrastructure for construction of housing units to create a contiguous block between Ma’aleh Adumim and East Jerusalem. The neighborhood of Mevaseret Adumim, slated to be built on Area E1, has so far not been built because of strong American opposition. However the construction of a police base in May 2008 opened a window for massive construction in the area. It is doubtful all this construction was meant to serve several hundred policemen and civilians traveling to the headquarters daily. The building of the police station, which was done with all required permits, appears to have been a necessary stage in the "claiming" of A1 ahead of constructing residential neighborhoods there. "Ma’aleh Adumim is an inalienable part of Jerusalem and the State of Israel in any permanent. . . more.. e-mail
Givati troops leave ’Death to Arabs’ graffiti in Gaza
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/30/2009
New images from Strip’s Zeitoun neighborhood show inscriptions on walls signed by infantry brigade soldiers - The Israel Defense Forces is still searching for the soldiers who scrawled "Death to Arabs" inscriptions on walls in Gaza’s Zeituon neighborhood. New images released by several news agencies have revealed more details on the unit’s identity. Alongside the operational activities, army commanders stressed to their soldiers how important it was to protect the Palestinian property, and instructed them to refrain from unnecessarily damaging civilian infrastructures. But it turns out there were some Givati Brigade troops who decided to ignore the rules and leave a "souvenir" to the house’s residents. They also made sure to add the name of their unit and the date the inscription was scrawled on the wall - three days after the ground offensive was launched. more.. e-mail
Gaza counts the cost -- and assigns blame
The Independent 2/1/2009
Two weeks after an uneasy ceasefire ended Israel’s 22-day offensive, Gaza is still struggling to come to terms with the cost of more than 1,300 Palestinian lives, more than 5,000 injuries and the total or partial destruction of some 20,000 homes. Last night Chris Gunness, chief spokesman for the UN Relief and Works agency, which has budgeted more than $300m (£205m) for an emergency food, health and repair package, said there was an "overwhelming" need for "industrial-scale building materials to be brought into Gaza to begin the task of rehabilitation, and that is before reconstruction in earnest even begins". The loss and devastation faced by Gazan civilians is as apparent in this rural village, a mere 1. 5 kilometres from the Israeli border, as anywhere. Juhr al Dik is agricultural land, notably green by Gaza standards, but a month ago Israeli forces arrived here early in their ground offensive, establishing bases in some of the homes. more.. e-mail
Al-Aqsa Brigades claim responsibility for firing on Nablus area settlement
Ma’an News Agency 1/31/2009
Bethlehem Maan The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility opening fire on the illegal Israeli settlement Itamar, near the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday evening. The Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed that an Israeli soldier was injured by the shooting. The Israeli military reports that Palestinians opened fire towards a hilltop adjacent to the settlement, and that no one was injured. Israeli forces are reportedly searching the area for the shooters. [end]
Israeli forces invade two Jenin area villages
Ma’an News Agency 1/31/2009
Jenin Maan Israeli army invaded the villages of Al-Yamun and Silat Al-Harthiya, west of the West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday. Palestinian security sources in Jenin said that Israeli troops invaded the two towns in the early morning hours, roaming the streets and sporadically firing in the air. Israeli forces withdrew shortly after. No arrests or raids of houses were reported. [end]
Clashes erupt as Israeli troops detain eight from Qalqiliya area, ransack homes
Ma’an News Agency 1/30/2009
Qalqiliya Maan Israeli troops detained eight men in Hijjah village near Qalqiliya before dawn on Friday and took the men to an unknown destination. Clashes erupted on between the villagers and the Israeli troops as they entered the village, though no injuries were reported. Witnesses said Israeli troops overran the village at 2:00am and raided several houses, one from the Masalha family where the troops damaged the home and detained 23-year-old Zakariyah Mufid Masalha. A second home near the Masalhas was also raided, and brothers Khader and Assem Masalha were also detained. In a telephone call with Maan Wael Masalha detailed the raid on his home. Troops forced their way into the home, he said, and forced his family to gather in one room while his brother was detained. Masalha added that the troops also detained Issam Husni Masalha, Muhammad Masalha,. . . more.. e-mail
IOF conducts 32 incursions into West Bank towns and villages in a week
Palestinian Information Center 1/30/2009
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The IOF has stepped up its daily incursions in various parts of the West Bank, conducting 32 such incursions during the fourth week of January and making numerous arrests. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) said in its weekly report that most of these daily incursions into West Bank towns, villages and refugee camps are characterised by random firing, destruction of property and large scale arrests. The PCHR added that 64 Palestinians, including 15 children were arrested during those incursions. The IOF also commandeered a house in the village of Batteer to the west of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem and turned it into a military post during one of the incursions. more.. e-mail
Palestinians in Gaza launch Grad rocket into Ashkelon
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 2/1/2009
A Palestinian Grad rocket exploded in Ashkelon on Saturday morning, according to Israel Radio. The projectile struck an open field in the city. Authorities are now searching for the precise landing spot, Israel Radio reported. No injuries were reported in the attack. Decision-makers in Jerusalem said Israel would continue to launch pinpoint strikes against Hamas and other Palestinian militant organizations in the Gaza Strip, Haaretz has learned. Israeli aircraft on Thursday wounded 10 Palestinians in the attempted killing of a Hamas operative in southern Gaza. Palestinian militants launched two Qassam rockets and one mortar round into Israel, resulting in no casualties or damage. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has vowed to strike Israeli targets, and Cypriot authorities Wednesday detained an Iranian arms ship that Israel believes may have been en route to Hezbollah. more.. e-mail
Gaza Grad hits Ashkelon first time since ceasefires called
Ma’an News Agency 1/31/2009
Bethlehem Maan A Grad fired from Gaza hit Ashkelon shortly after sunrise Saturday morning, Israeli sources reported. The missile was the first Grad launched since the ceasefires were called, and the first to hit a major Israeli center. According to the sources, the projectile hit an open area on the outskirts of the city causing no casualties or damage, but triggering the alarm siren set up to warn residents of projectile launches. [end]
Israel to carry out attacks against Hamas and other targets in Gaza
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/30/2009
Israeli online daily Haaretz reported on Friday morning that Israel has decided to carry out what has been described as pinpoint attacks against Hamas and other factions in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to an attack carried out against Israeli soldiers at the Kissufim crossing on Tuesday. One officer was killed and three soldiers were wounded in the attack, which came in response to Israeli military strikes in Gaza, carried out after the unilateral ceasefire was declared by Israel on January 17th. Haaretz stated that Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, held a meeting on Thursday night with Israel Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, and Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, where they agreed upon "limited attacks" in the Gaza Strip. The convening leaders also decided to carry out further offensives at the "right time", based on what Haaretz refers to as practical considerations and facts on the ground. more.. e-mail
Palestinian Eagles Brigades: Beware of Israeli technology in war follow-up
Ma’an News Agency 1/30/2009
Gaza - Ma’an - The Palestinian Eagles Brigades called on all Palestinian forces and factions to be cautious and aware of new Israeli monitoring technology. The faction, an offshoot of Fatahs Al-Aqsa Brigades, began announcing military activities during the Israeli war on Gaza. In a Friday statement the group warned all factions to beware of indirect methods and war tactics used by the Israeli military and their monitoring technology. Israel was not able to achieve their goals in Gaza and they want to make up for their losses by continuing their attacks against the resistance and the political leadership. Israeli threats wont stop us the statement said, and vowed to continue resistance when it was necessary. more.. e-mail
Projectile lands in Israel; previously unknown brigades claim launch
Ma’an News Agency 1/30/2009
Gaza Maan A new military group calling themselves the Nation Troops Brigades claimed to have launched a projectile at a group of Israeli military personnel at the Al-Ahrash area east of the Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City Friday morning. The brigades said the attack came as a response for the Israeli crimes against Palestinians. The Natin Troops have not previously claimed any projectile lauches, and say they are unafiliated with any group or faction. [end]
Israel plans to build up West Bank corridor on contentious land
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 2/1/2009
Israel has invested close to NIS 200 million during the past two years in preparing infrastructure for construction of housing units to create a contiguous block between Ma’aleh Adumim and East Jerusalem. The neighborhood of Mevaseret Adumim, slated to be built on Area A1, has so far not been built because of strong American opposition. However the construction of a police base in May 2008 opened a window for massive construction in the area. It is doubtful all this construction was meant to serve several hundred policemen and civilians traveling to the headquarters daily. The building of the police station, which was done with all required permits, appears to have been a necessary stage in the "claiming" of A1 ahead of constructing residential neighborhoods there. Ma’aleh Adumim is an inalienable part of Jerusalem and the State of Israel in any permanent settlement," read a statement from the office of Defense Minister Ehud Barak. more.. e-mail
Who torched my car?
Palestinian Information Center 1/31/2009
On Friday, 23 January, at 9:20 pm, unknown assailants (I know their identities and have handed their names over to the police) set my car ablaze while parked in front of my home (in downtown Nablus). The arsonists jumped over the fence and poured a flammable substance all over the car. The car was burned down completely. On 30 December, a person, identifying himself as Muhdi Marqa, a resident of the al-Ein Refugee Camp, telephoned me saying he had just listened to my interview with the al-Aqsa Television. He asked me to "calm down," adding that I could, if I wanted, consider his call a threat. This is the same person who had opened fire on my car on 14 June, 2007, when he and other accomplices fired 60 bullets on it. He made sure that the bullets hit the engine in order to render the vehicle unusable. more.. e-mail
Israeli raid injures Gaza children
Al Jazeera 1/29/2009
At least nine people, seven of them school girls, have been injured by an Israeli air attack in the southern Gaza Strip, sources tell Al Jazeera. The raid on Thursday in Khan Younis also injured a Hamas policeman, the AFP news agency reported, quoting witnesses and medics. Israel seemed to be targeting a Palestinian fighter on a motorcycle, witnesses told Al Jazeera. The raid came several hours after Israeli jets attacked what witnesses said was a metal foundry in Rafah, a town near Gaza’s border with Egypt. "An aerial attack took place against a site used to manufacture weapons in an area of the city of Rafah following the firing of a rocket into southern Israel in [Wednesday] evening," an Israeli army spokesman told AFP. more.. e-mail
While Gaza Burns, the West Bank Remains in the Pressure Cooker
Palestine Monitor, Palestine Monitor 1/29/2009
While Gaza burned under the weight of thousands of tons of bombs and missiles, the hardships of Palestinians in the West Bank were all but forgotten. While the sat fixated upon the systematic destruction of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army further tightened the levers of occupation in the West Bank. Settlements have expanded incredibly during the year 2008, despite the signature of the so-called "Annapolis Peace Process’ that entitled Israel to freeze the settlement building in the West Bank. Within the past weeks, hundreds Palestinians West Bankers have been arrested and detained by Israeli forces, darkening the latest Israeli prisoner release of last December. While non-violently demonstrating against the massacre in Gaza, 6 Palestinians throughout the West Bank were shot dead by the Israeli forces during the past few weeks. more.. e-mail
Israel plans more 'pinpoint strikes' against Hamas in Gaza
Haaretz Staff, Ha’aretz 1/30/2009
The decision to carry out further pinpoint strikes against Hamas emerged after consultations between the security cabinet and top Israeli defense officials. The hostilities were necessary to let Hamas know that strikes against Israel would not go unanswered, one source said. During the deliberations, intelligence officers said Hamas was trying to contain its radical elements because it was interested in cementing a cease-fire agreement. This, the intelligence officers said, was why the organization is delaying its response to recent strikes by the Israel Defense Forces. The first IDF strike against Hamas after Operation Cast Lead came on Tuesday, after the death of one Israeli soldier in an explosion near the border with Gaza. Since then, the Israel Air Force carried out several retaliatory raids. more.. e-mail
Gaza mother fears for children hurt in Israeli drone strike
Peter Beaumont in Khan Younis, The Guardian 1/29/2009
Target was Hamas member riding motorbike past bus stop Tit-for-tat clashes test ceasefire as US envoy meets Abbas - Abdel Majid, 12, was waiting for the bus to take him home from school when the Israeli drone struck. Its target was a Hamas member riding a motorbike past a bus stop crowded with children. " I could hear the zanana [drone] above me," Majid said today from his bed in Naser hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza. "Then it fired a rocket. " The shrapnel from the drone peppered his legs as it knocked him down. It also hit Ola and Yahyeh al-Farah, aged 10 and nine, as well as Insherah al-Wan, eight. Lying in bed, their lower limbs were bandaged and bloodied. "What kind of criminals do this? " asked Rewaa al-Farah, clutching her daughter’s hand where the child lay in her bloodied gingham school dress. "They can see what they are doing [when they launch the missile] but they don’t care. more.. e-mail
Khan Younis: Unmanned Israeli plane fires a missile at civilians, injuring six
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/29/2009
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. more.. e-mail
Nine Palestinians wounded in IOF raid
Palestinian Information Center 1/29/2009
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)- Nine Palestinian citizens were wounded on Thursday including eight school children who were on their way back home when an Israeli reconnaissance plane fired a missile at two Qassam fighters in Khan Younis city, south of the Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses said that the schoolchildren were carried to the nearby Nasser Hospital. Earlier today an Israeli F-16 warplane shelled a foundry at the pretext it was used in manufacturing locally made missiles. In another development, the Egyptian authority refused to allow entry of a delegation of Jordanian engineers into Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing. The chairman of the Jordanian engineers’ syndicate, who is leading the delegation, said that his team was carrying relief material and medical assistance. He added that the team members intended to evaluate the destruction in Gaza as a result of the Israeli bloody. . . more.. e-mail
Nine injured as Israeli warplanes strike Khan Younis, Rafah
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2009
Gaza Maan Nine Palestinians, most of them children were wounded when an Israeli 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 An-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. more.. e-mail
Israeli warplanes raid Gaza-Egypt border
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/29/2009
Israeli 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 Deir Elbalah 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. more.. e-mail
Gaza truce under fire as Israel continues offensive
Middle East Online 1/29/2009
GAZA CITY - Spiralling violence near Gaza threatened on Thursday to shatter ceasefires that ended a war in the enclave as US envoy George Mitchell headed for talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Israeli warplanes bombed tunnels on Gaza’s border with Egypt and resistance fighters in the coastal strip fired two rockets into Israel. The attacks, which did not injure anyone, further stoked tensions that have been rising. Israeli officials, in the midst of an election campaign ahead of February 10 legislative polls, vowed that they would hit back hard at any resistance strike and warned Gaza’s borders would remain closed if attacks continued. "It is clear that we will react, but we need patience and we have no intentions of showing our plans to the enemy," Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told army radio. more.. e-mail
IOF air raid blast foundry, IOA levels flat for 2nd time
Palestinian Information Center 1/29/2009
RAFAH, (PIC)-- An Israeli F-16 warplane blasted a metal workshop east of Rafah city south of the Gaza Strip at an early hour on Thursday with at least one missile, local sources said. They told PIC reporter that the explosion greatly damaged the foundry owned by Joda family. The raid followed threats by Israeli leaders to launch more aggression on the Strip and one day after a series of raids that targeted the Rafah border strip with Egypt coupled with an incursion in central Gaza. The IOF command claimed that a Palestinian homemade missile was fired from Gaza at the settlement assembly of Eshkol adjacent to the south of the Strip. Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation authority on Wednesday flattened a Palestinian apartment in occupied Jerusalem for the second time at the usual pretext of lack of construction permit. more.. e-mail
Israeli air strike wounds schoolchildren in Gaza
Middle East Online 1/29/2009
GAZA CITY - Eighteen Palestinians, including 11 schoolchildren, a policeman and a pregnant woman, were wounded in an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, witnesses and medics said. The raid struck Mohammed al-Sumeiri, a policeman, and his passenger as they rode a motorcycle in the town of Khan Yunis, the sources said. Eleven schoolchildren and a pregnant woman passing by in the street were among those also wounded, they said. The air strike was the latest incident of spiralling violence in and around the enclave that is threatening to shatter ceasefires which ended the 22-day war on January 18. Israel’s war on Gaza killed 1,330 Palestinians, mainly civilians, and wounded 5,450 others. Among the dead were 437 children, 110 women, 123 elderly men, 14 medics and four journalists. more.. e-mail
Israel planned Gaza attack nearly one year ago, says academic
Habib Toumi, Gulf News 1/27/2009
Manama: Israel launched its attacks on Gaza to foil a peaceful offensive by Hamas, said American academic Norman Finkelstein. Finkelstein dismissed claims that Hamas was responsible for the onslaught, saying that there was no evidence that supported the "misconceptions"." There is no evidence in my opinion to support this claim. The records show very clearly that, as Israeli newspapers themselves reported, the attack on Gaza had been planned as early as March 2007," said Finkelstein, ahead of two lectures he is delivering in Manama on "the real motives behind Israel’s massacre in Gaza" and on the power of the Israeli lobby in the US. Finkelstein, the son of a Holocaust survivor, has often accused Israel of using the genocidal Nazi campaign against Jews to justify its actions against Palestinians. more.. e-mail
VIDEO- Gaza 2009: We Will Never Forget
YouTube 1/24/2009
Montage documenting the genocide commited by Isreal in "Operation Cast Lead". more.. e-mail
Israeli troops seize four, injure two in Hebron-area raids
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2009
Hebron Maan Two Palestinians were injured and two others seized by the Israeli military during n arrest raid in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar, near the city of Hebron, on Thursday, officials said. Two others were arrested in separate raids in the Hebron area. According to the municipal government of Beit Ummar, Israeli troops opened fire at a house belonging to 63-year-old Fathi Jamal Al-Alamah, injuring him in the chest. His 55-year-old wife Fahima Khalil Abu Ayyash was injured in the leg. Israeli troops seized Ayed Ali Ibrahim Ady, 25, and Said Muhammad Mahmoud Al-Alamah, 21, from their houses, the municipality said. The Palestinian Prisoners Society also reported that the Israeli troops detained the Sheikh of the Al-Fawwar Mosque in Hebron Sulaiman Ahmad Hussein, 37, and Hussam Amer Haddoush, 24, from the village of Surif, north of Hebron. more.. e-mail
Military forces attack Hebron area: Two civilians injured and four others kidnapped
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/29/2009
During an Israeli pre-dawn attack, targeting the southern West Bank city of Hebron and nearby villages on Thursday, the Israeli Army injured two civilians and kidnapped four others. In Beit Omer village near Hebron, Israeli troops attacked people’s homes and searched them. During the search, witnesses said that soldiers opened fire at their homes, Jamal AL Allamah, age 62, and his wife Fahmia, age 55, were injured by the Israeli Army fire. Doctors said that the two sustained moderate wounds. Al Allamah sustained wounds in his chest, while his wife was hit in her legs. Soldiers left Beit Omer after kidnapping two civilians identified as Sa’ed Al Allamah, age 21, Ayed Addi, age 25. Meanwhile, another Israeli force stormed and searched homes in the village of Sourif near Hebron, and kidnapped two civilians, local sources reported. more.. e-mail
Elderly couple targeted in southern West Bank
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/29/2009
Hebron - Israeli forces struck the southern West Bank district of Hebron this morning, breaking into several homes. In Beit Ummar a witness reports that an elderly married couple was injured. "Dozens of Israeli soldiers and enhanced military units launched raids in different districts in the town. "The witness continued, "Several houses were broken into, and there was shooting and attacks on the owners of targeted houses. " Also attacked were Sureif and Fawar Refugee Camp. Two people were injured and four others arrested during Thursday’s violent raids. In Beit Ummar Israeli forces fired on the home of 62 year old Jamal Fathi Abu Ayash who was wounded by shrapnel to the chest. His wife, 55 year old Fahima Khalil Abu Ayash was struck in the foot by shrapnel. Both were taken to the government hospital in Hebron. more.. e-mail
Israel seizes 14 Palestinians during overnight raids
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2009
Bethlehem Maan The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it seized 14 Palestinians during overnight raids across the West Bank. Palestinians were taken from their homes inBethlehem and Hebron. Seven were taken from the village of Bet Suweif. According to the military the detainees were taken for questioning. [end]
Israel and Hamas attacks undermine Gaza ceasefire
Mark Tran and agencies, The Guardian 1/29/2009
Rocket fire and air strikes come as US envoy George Mitchell meets Palestinian Authority leader in effort to reinforce truce - Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes today threatened to undermine efforts by the US Middle East envoy to reinforce a fragile Gaza ceasefire as he held talks with the leader of the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip fired a rocket into Israel late yesterday the first since the 18 January ceasefire and another today. No one was hurt. Israeli aircraft struck in southern Gaza, hitting and wounding a man on a motorcycle, and attacking a metal workshop that the Israeli military said was a weapons factory. Two militants and 10 youths were injured, medical workers said. The violence provided a sombre backdrop for talks between George Mitchell and Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. more.. e-mail
Consent and advise
Yotam Feldman and Uri Blau, Ha’aretz 1/29/2009
On the first day of Operation Cast Lead, the air force bombed the graduation ceremony of a police course, killing dozens of policemen. Months earlier, an operational and legal controversy was already swirling around the planned attack. According to a military source who was involved in the planning, bombing the site of the ceremony was authorized with no difficulty, but questions were raised about the intent to strike at the graduates of the course. Military Intelligence, convinced the attack was justified, pressed for its implementation. Representatives of the international law division (ILD) in the Military Advocate General’s Office at first objected, fearing a possible violation of international law. "This was a very large group of people who at that moment were ostensibly civilians and the next day would become legitimate military targets," says an operational source. more.. e-mail
Report: West Bank settlements grew 60 percent in 2008
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2009
Bethlehem Maan Israel accelerated construction in illegal settlements in the West Bank during 2008, a report by an Israeli monitoring group said on Wednesday. The Israeli group Peace Now reported that 1,257 new structures were built in settlements during 2008, compared to 800 in 2007, an increase of 57 percent. Building more than doubled in outposts, unauthorized settlements that are not officially recognized by the Israeli government with 261 structures built, compared to 98 the year before, the report said. Despite a pledge to dismantle outposts, not a single real outpost was evacuated, the report said. Israel pledged to freeze settlement activity in late 2007 before a peace conference in Annapolis in the US. The document also says that settlers exploited the media frenzy over the war in Gaza to intensify their efforts in the West Bank. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 012909
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/29/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 00s || 2. 75 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Wednesday, January 28th, 2009. The Israeli army continues to attack Gaza, while two Palestinians in the West Bank are injured. These stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast At least 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 were 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 continued attacks on Gaza. more.. e-mail
Israeli warplanes bombard the Gaza-Egypt border line
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/28/2009
Israeli warplanes bombarded early on Wednesday dawn the Gaza-Egypt border line in southern Gaza, destroying a number of underground tunnels, used by Palestinians to bring in essential goods and commodities from Egypt as Israel continues to close all border crossings for 20 months now. Witnesses said that the warplanes fired three missiles toward the border area and that some damages were inflicted to some nearby Palestinian-owned houses. Spokesperson of the Israeli army confirmed that the Israeli air raids on the area came in response to yesterday’s blast of a military jeep in the southeastern Gaza-Israel border line, where one Israeli soldier was killed and three others were injured. Yesterday, the Israeli army tanks rolled into Palestinian areas close to the blast location, as military bulldozers razed vast areas of Palestinian-owned lands. more.. e-mail
Peace Recedes as Israeli Settlements Expand
Daniel Luban, Inter Press Service 1/29/2009
WASHINGTON, Jan 28(IPS) - Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank increased sharply in 2008, despite Israel’s pledge at the beginning of the year to freeze all construction, according to a new report by an Israeli non-governmental organisation. The report, released Wednesday by the group Peace Now, found that settlement construction in 2008 increased by almost 60 percent, including new construction both inside and outside of the security barrier and within illegal settlement outposts. The Peace Now study was released on the same day that newly appointed U. S. peace envoy George Mitchell - a longtime critic of settlement construction - arrived in Israel. The increase in construction is expected to be a source of friction in Mitchell’s negotiations with Israeli leaders. Critics warned that the increase in construction is likely to damage the already fragile prospects for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine. -- See also: Peace Now: West Bank settlement construction nearly doubled this year more.. e-mail
VIDEO - Gaza: A family’s devastation
The Guardian 1/28/2009
Majdi al-Athanma lost 18 members of his family in a 2006 Israeli shelling. He describes how the recent Israeli offensive has shattered his life again. [end]
Olmert briefs cabinet on Tuesday’s ceasefire breach
Ma’an News Agency 1/28/2009
Bethlehem Maan Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday briefed the Israeli cabinet on alleged breaches to Israels unilateral ceasefire. Specifically, Olmert spoke about an attack near the Israeli kibbutz of Kisufim on Tuesday morning, which killed a soldier and injured three, one seriously. According to a Hebrew-language news agency, Reshet Bet, Israeli army leaders are hoping to receive permission to respond to any ceasefire breach, regardless of its origin. The Israeli military "sees Hamas as responsible for preserving the peace in Israel’s southern villages and will respond harshly to any attempt of undermining it," according to an army spokesperson. more.. e-mail
Hundreds flee homes in middle of night
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/28/2009
Gaza - Witnesses report Israeli warplanes bombing early Wednesday the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. Residents spoke of powerful explosions from grenades and rockets near the border. Hundreds of people fled their homes to escape harm. No casualties were reported from the blasts that hit Rafah along the Gaza Strip -- Egypt border. Israeli forces say the targets were the tunnels used for bringing goods into the Strip banned during the siege imposed in June 2007, including fuel, cigarettes, food and other commodities. Beginning late night and continuing into dawn, the attacks on Rafah are not the first of their kind. Since 2003 Israeli forces have targeted the tunnels, rendering tens of thousands of Palestinians homeless through bulldozing and bombing campaigns. more.. e-mail
Israel to respond harshly to deadly Gaza border blast
Amos Harel and Anshel Pfeffer, Ha’aretz 1/29/2009
Israel is gearing up to respond harshly against Hamas in response to a remote-control bomb attack at the Gaza Strip security fence Tuesday, which killed an Israel Defense Forces tracker and wounded three other soldiers, one seriously. It was the Palestinians’ first deadly attack since the cease-fire ended Operation Cast Lead, and came the day before the arrival of George Mitchell, the U. S. envoy to the Middle East. Hours after the attack, an Israel Air Force aircraft fired a missile at a militant on a motorbike in the Khan Yunis area of Gaza. The Shin Bet security service, which helped coordinate the missile strike, said the militant, Hussein Abu-Shamaya, was involved in the bomb attack. The bomb was planted by a Hamas breakaway group identified with the Al-Qaida-affiliated Global Jihad, the Shin Bet said. In addition, a Palestinian man, apparently a farmer, was killed in exchanges of more.. e-mail
Israel bombs southern Gaza
Al Jazeera 1/29/2009
Israeli jets have bombed the southern Gaza Strip after a rocket was fired from the Palestinian territory into Israel. There were no immediate reports of any injuries from either the bombing early on Thursday or the rocket fire on Wednesday. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the air attack, saying it had targeted a weapons production site in response to the rocket fired at Israel. There were no immediate reports of any injuries from the strike, which witnesses said damaged a metal foundry in the town of Rafah, near the Egyptian border. Wednesday night’s rocket fire from Gaza - the first since Palestinian factions declared their own ceasefire with Israel - landed at the kibbutz or agricultural commune of Re’im, in the southern Israeli Eshkol region, an Israeli military spokesman said on Thursday. The rocket fire came after Israeli jets carried out raids on tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border earlier on Wednesday - the first tunnel bombing since it halted its 22-day offensive on January 18. more.. e-mail
IAF commander: Bombing of tunnels not a solution to Gaza arms smuggling
Anshel Pfeffer, Ha’aretz 1/29/2009
Israel Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan said Wednesday that he doubted the long-term efficacy of Israel’s bombing of the tunnels on the Philadelphi Route in southern Gaza. In the first remarks on the outcome of Operation Cast Lead by a member of the Israel Defense Forces General Staff, Nehushtan said he recommended focusing on all means of weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip. The air force carried out hundreds of sorties around the Philadelphi Route during the Gaza operation, focusing mainly on houses suspected of hiding tunnels. On Tuesday night, following the attack on an army patrol hear Kissufim, the IDF responded by bombing tunnels in that area. Speaking at the Ilan Ramon Annual International Space Conference in Herzliya, Nehushtan attempted to reduce the importance of tunnels for smuggling arms, calling them "merely the spout of the toothpaste tube". more.. e-mail
IAF strikes in south Gaza following rocket fire
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 1/29/2009
Fighter jets bomb weapons production site, tunnel near Rafah shortly after Olmert, Barak, Livni decide Israel must retaliate on earlier rocket fire on Negev - Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck a stonecutting facility near a Hamas outpost and a smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip late Wednesday night, shortly after militants fired a rocket at Israel, witnesses and the Islamic movement Hamas said. There were no immediate reports of any injuries. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the attack, saying it had targeted a weapons production site, in response to the rocket fire at Israel. Earlier, the security "Kitchenette," namely Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni decided Wednesday night that Israel must retaliate on the rocket fire at the western Negev. more.. e-mail
Armed groups launch seven projectiles toward Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 1/28/2009
Gaza Maan The militant wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for firing seven shells toward an Israeli special forces unit 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. more.. e-mail
Israeli warplanes strike Rafah border area
Ma’an News Agency 1/28/2009
Gaza Maan Israeli aircraft pummeled the southern Gaza Strip early on Wednesday morning, destroying parts of Rafah, witnesses said. Two strikes were reported by residents, who fled the scene by the hundreds. Maans correspondent in Gaza said three separate strikes damaged buildings around Rafah. No injuries were immediately reported. Israel said the pre-dawn strikes targeted "Hamas smuggling tunnels" in the southern Gaza Strip, but that the attack was retaliatory. "This was in response to the attack against an IDF [Israel Defense Forces] force in the area of Kissufim, an Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement to Ma’an. That attack killed an Israeli soldier, who died after an explosive device detonated near the Kissufim kibbutz on the Israel-Gaza border on Tuesday morning. Three other soldiers were injured, one seriously, in the blast that targeted a military convoy. more.. e-mail
Winning hearts and minds in the IDF
Israel Harel, Ha’aretz 1/29/2009
"those who do not believe fully in the righteousness of their path cannot educate" [Fascism speaks - Ed. ] - The more the reports multiply about the outcome of the Gaza campaign, especially the high motivation of our soldiers, their parents and the public in general, the greater the concern among those in the last generation who hurt the spirit of the Israel Defense Forces. It was they who were responsible for its lack of motivation ("you can’t win against terror") and affected its combat theories. Indeed, a new wind is blowing in the army these days. It is no longer an army whose only clear victories in the past 35 years - Gush Katif and Amona - were against its own people. The fighting spirit in Gaza was not affected this time by the agenda of the Four Mothers and similar groups, particularly thos think tanks that bear substantial responsibility for the politicization and disorientation of the top brass. -- See also: Advice under fire more.. e-mail
Rocket fired from Gaza lands in Negev
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 1/28/2009
Projectile hits open area in western Negev despite ceasefire declared by armed Palestinian groups following IDF offensive in Hamas-controlled Gaza; no injuries reported. Council head: We expect the government to retaliate - Palestinians fired a rocket from northern Gaza at the western Negev Wednesday night. The projectile landed in an open area in the western Negev’s Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported. The Color Red alert sounded throughout the area ahead of the landing. "We expect the government to retaliate rather than exercise restraint, in order to keep the residents safe," said Haim Yalin, head of the Eshkol Regional Council. Earlier, several Color Red alerts sounded throughout the Nahal Oz and Alomim communities, but subsequent IDF inquires deemed them to be false alarms. more.. e-mail
IOF warplanes blast Rafah border area
Palestinian Information Center 1/28/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Israel’s warplanes blasted the Rafah border area with Egypt at an early hour on Wednesday claiming the raids targeted tunnels used for smuggling "weapons". Local sources told PIC reporter that American-supplied Israeli F-16s fired at least four missiles on the border strip south of Gaza forcing Palestinian security elements to evacuate their positions. Egyptian security forces, on the other side of the border, retreated a long distance into their territories after receiving warnings of the Israeli occupation forces’ intention to raid the border area. The border strip in Rafah was the target of hundreds of IOF aerial bombardment during the three-week war on Gaza at the pretext of destroying tunnels, which in fact flattened 150 homes and partially destroyed many others. more.. e-mail
Israel jets strike Gaza tunnels
AP, The Independent 1/28/2009
Israeli warplanes have pounded smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border after a Palestinian bomb killed an Israeli soldier. The border flare-up came 10 days into an informal ceasefire. It also came just hours before President Barack Obama’s new Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, was due to meet Israeli leaders. The military said the soldier was killed yesterday on Israel’s frontier with the Gaza Strip by a roadside bomb planted on the Gaza side. Israel sent tanks and bulldozers into northern Gaza to plough up the attack site and launched an airstrike that wounded a Hamas militant. Meanwhile, residents said two Israeli air strikes early today targeted smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border. They said the strikes sent hundreds of people fleeing. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 012809
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/28/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 4 m 00s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Wednesday, January 28th, 2009. The Israeli army attacks the Gaza borders, and demolish a home in Jerusalem in the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast 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 that has lasted for 20 months. Witnesses said that the warplanes fired three missiles toward the border area and that some damage was inflicted to some nearby Palestinian-owned houses. A spokesperson of the Israeli army confirmed that the Israeli air raids on the. . . more.. e-mail
Eight West Bank Palestinians seized near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 1/28/2009
Jenin Maan Israeli forces imposed a curfew on a village west of Jenin and seized eight Palestinians early on Wednesday morning, security sources told Maan. Palestinian Authority (PA) security officials also reported that Israeli troops stormed the West Bank town of Qabatiya, as well. Eight young men were reportedly seized in Zabuba, a village near Jenin in the northern West Bank. The Palestinians were identified as Said Jaradat, Thaer Maqaldeh, Hasan Abu Zaytouneh, Mubda Maqaldeh, the brothers Hasan and Husen Muhammad Atatra, Muhammad Amarna, and Abada Zagheel. Witnesses told Maan that Israeli forces imposed a curfew, closed roads with military roadblocks, raided the houses of residents and prevented people from leaving the village. Security sources said Israeli patrols were in the streets of Qabatiya by 3am and withdrew ay 4am on Wednesday, without any reported arrests. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian owned flat in Jerusalem
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/28/2009
Israeli military bulldozers demolished on Wednesday morning a Palestinian owned flat located in Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem city. The flat is located in a building; it is the home of Talal Al Shoki and his eight family members. Local sources said that this is the second time his flat was demolished by the Israeli military. Witnesses said that Israeli troops and a bulldozer arrived in the area on the early morning forced the family out then demolished the walls of the flat. The Israeli authorities say that the flat was built without the needed construction permission. Since Israel occupied the city of Jerusalem in 1967 it has rarely given its Palestinian resident permissions to built homes, while funding and building hundreds of home in illegal settlements in and around the city of Jerusalem. Ahmad AL Rowidi, the head of Jerusalem affairs in the Palestinian President office. . . more.. e-mail
No security for Palestinians under Israeli occupation
Najib Farrag, Palestine News Network 1/28/2009
PNN -- Israeli forces opened direct fire on a home in Bethlehem’s Al Azzeh Refugee Camp early yesterday. Forty-five year old Azzeh home owner Laith Issa describes being in his bedroom before dawn. "I had been watching a news program on Al Jazeera and fell asleep. But I felt the movement of vehicles and heard something next door. " He added, "I went to the window and watched the soldiers. "Al Azzeh told PNN today that residents of the refugee camp are accustomed to the raids of the Israeli army, to the home invasions, the roundups of youth, the blindfolds, the shooting. "They were around the house and fired for more than a half hour, hitting at least 10 times the same window. "There are five bullets lodged into the bedroom wall from where Al Azzeh first looked out the window. The family was shocked to find soldiers shouting at them. more.. e-mail
The Israeli military kidnaps eight civilians during an invasion targeting a village near Jenin
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/28/2009
Eight Palestinian civilians where kidnapped on Wednesday by Israeli troops during an attack targeting the village of Zboba located near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Villagers told local media that Israeli troops invaded their village and conducted house to house search for a number of hours. Soldiers forced a curfew on the village and did not allow people to leave their homes, witnesses said. During the search Israeli troops forced families outside their home and ransacked belongs. Troops left later in the morning taking the eight men to unknown locations, residents reported. [end]
The Israeli army attacks several areas in Hebron and kidnaps three civilians
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/28/2009
Media sources in the southern West Bank city of Hebron reported that the Israeli army invaded and searched homes in several parts of the city and kidnapped three civilians on Wednesday. Troops searched homes in Hebron city and nearby Yatta, Kharas, and Al Thahrya villages. Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers handed out military orders to a number of men for integration by the Isralei secrit police in those villages. Those kidnapped where identified as; Isma’el Hassasnah, 21, Khaled AL Battata, 40, and Ayman Abu Arkob, 23. [end]
Settlement building not sufficient to meet ’natural growth’
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 1/29/2009
The settlers are not thrilled with George Mitchell - and that is an understatement. Mitchell, who first arrived here as an envoy on behalf of the Democratic Clinton administration eight years ago, asked then that Israel freeze settlement construction, even if the building activity was intended to meet natural population growth. To a large extent, he was successful in attaining what he asked for. If Mitchell actually does visit any settlements, and examines closely the situation there, he will find that there has never been a time when so little construction activity was taking place in settlements. In many communities, the construction is insufficient to meet natural growth, and many newly married couples find that they must move to locations within the Green Line (in sovereign Israel). Kiryat Arba, Karnei Shomron and Tekoa are all towns that provide clear. . . more.. e-mail
Peace Now: Israel settlement building accelerated in 2008
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/29/2009
Settlements and outposts in the West Bank expanded more quickly in 2008 than the previous year, a Peace Now report said Wednesday. According to the group, 1,257 new structures were built in settlements during 2008, compared to 800 in 2007, an increase of 57 percent. The group said in the report that building more than doubled in outposts, which unlike settlements are not recognized by the Israeli government. It says 261 structures were built in outposts, compared to 98 the year before. The government has promised to dismantle outposts. The Palestinians demand a complete halt to settlement building in the West Bank during peace negotiations, saying their expansion is taking land they demand in any final settlement -- See also: Peace Now: West Bank settlement construction nearly doubled this year more.. e-mail
Report: Peace Now annual settlement report shows an increase of constructions
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/28/2009
The Israeli left wing organization Peace Now released on Wednesday its annual report about the Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. The report show that the number of settlers in the West Bank as of 2008: 285,800, while the number of new structures built there during 2008: 1,518 (including 261 in outposts). At least 1,257 new structures were built in settlements, including 748 permanent buildings and 509 caravans, compared to 800 structures in 2007 (including 442 permanent structures and 368 caravans), a 60% rise. The figures are based on aerial photos and site visits by the Peace Now Settlement Watch team in the last year. Peace Now noted in the report that not a single real outpost was evacuated. In addition at least 261 new structures were built, including 227 caravans and 34 permanent structures, compared to 98 structures in 2007 (including 82 caravans and 16 permanent structures), a 2. more.. e-mail
Peace Now: Settlements expanded faster in 2008
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/28/2009
On day US Mideast envoy arrives in Israel, Peace Now movement publishes report on settlement expansion activity last year. Yesha Council pleased with ’documentation of Zionist enterprise’ - Jewish settlements and outposts in the West Bank expanded more rapidly in 2008 than the previous year, Peace now reported on Wednesday. The timing of the report is no coincidence, and it was released on the day US Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell was scheduled to arrive in Israel. Mitchell has spoken out against the illegal construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories in the past. According to the report, there were 285,800 settlers living in the West Bank as of 2008, with 1,518 new structures built in the territories last year, including 261 outposts. Sixty-one percent of the new structures were built west of the route of the separation fence and 39% were built east of it. more.. e-mail
Peace now: Settlement expansion rose by 60 percent in the last year
Palestinian Information Center 1/28/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli leftist peace now organization reported that the settlement expansion in the West Bank rose by 60 percent in 2008 compared to the previous year, noting that the information came in the report was collected through field visits and supported with aerial photos. Peace now underlined in its report that the number of new structures built in the settlements last year amounted to 1,257 including 748 permanent buildings and 509 caravans. The report confirms that despite the Israeli government’s repeated announcement that it would stop settlement expansion and land confiscation, but the facts on the ground contradict this. Regarding the settlement outposts which the Israeli government promised the high court to evacuate, the report affirms that not a single outpost was evacuated in 2008, but quite the reverse the settlers expanded the construction. . . more.. e-mail
Intel sources: Gaza informants compromised by sloppiness
Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/29/2009
Sources at Southern Command and in MI claim that intelligence-gathering personnel both at the Shin Bet and MI were frustrated that in a number of instances, operations officers failed to adequately protect a source of information - namely Palestinian agents. - Among those killed were Fatah members who were spotted in the vicinity of Hamas installations bombed by the air force, and who were carrying cell phones, and could not satisfactorily explain what they were doing in that particular location at that time. In one case, which was widely discussed in the Strip, Hamas gunmen kidnapped a civilian from his home, tortured him, and ripped out his eyes, because they suspected he was an Israeli agent. The man was returned to his family, but several days later the gunmen returned and murdered him. During the fighting, various Israeli security organizations prided themselves on the close more.. e-mail
Gaza electricity official: $10m needed to repair electricity lines
Palestinian Information Center 1/28/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- The director of the electricity distribution company in Gaza districts, Suhail Skeik, said on Wednesday that rehabilitating the electricity network and main stations in the Strip needed 10 million dollars. He told a press conference that in certain areas the electricity network was completely damaged while in other areas it was partially damaged and could be repaired. Skeik said that his company’s engineers had repaired a number of lines but could not do so in the areas badly damaged by the Israeli barbaric invasion. He said that electricity poles were uprooted and his company could not re-instate them due to the lack of raw material and tools. The director pointed out that hundreds of thousands of Gaza inhabitants were deprived of electricity along with other services during the three-week war on Gaza when the sole electricity generation station in the Strip came to a complete halt after Israel banned entry of fuel. more.. e-mail
Operating in the line of fire
Ronny Linder-Ganz, Ha’aretz 1/29/2009
Dr. Michael Sherf was well prepared for the war in southern Israel this year. But one thing the manager of the Soroka Medical Center, which took in most of the wounded Israelis from the conflict in Gaza, hadn’t considered in advance - what to do with the roughly 300 children of hospital staffers whose schools had been closed down, and probably as many celebrities, all running amok in the hospital hallways. "Schools were closed down during the war and a lot of men were called up to reserve duty," Sherf says. "Nurses couldn’t make it to work. We had to find a solution to keep the hospital functioning. " Within a day, the hospital threw together a makeshift "summer camp" for the kids. "It was a special project," Sherf notes, in an understatement. "We had to keep 300 kids of all ages occupied with activities, classes, trips outside the area. " more.. e-mail
Tank fire kills Gazan; soldier dead, three others injured in blast
Ma’an News Agency 1/27/2009
Gaza - Maan - Israeli tank fire killed one Palestinian and injured a second after Palestinian fighters launched a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) at an Israeli tank patrolling the Gaza border in the south-central area of the Gaza Strip. Israeli sources said the RPG killed one soldier and injured three others. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was quoted as saying Israel should respond quickly to the attack no matter who was responsible for launching the projectile. The head of the committee in charge of bringing aid into Gaza Raed Fattouh said Israel closed all commercial crossings to the Gaza Strip after the explosion. Medical sources identified the Palestinian casualty as 27-year-old Anwar Al-Brim. Witnesses said they saw Palestinian faction fighters launch an RPG at an Israeli patrol near the Kissufim military base in south-central Gaza. more.. e-mail
NGO seeks arrest of 15 Israeli leaders over Gaza
Middle East Online 1/27/2009
LONDON - An international non-governmental organization has submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court for the arrest of top Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, and has called for information about the travel plans and whereabouts outside Israel of the suspects. The International Coalition against Impunity (HOKOK), a non-governmental organization registered with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, has submitted a Letter of Notification and Referral to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court outlining the case for the arrest of 15 Israeli political and military leaders for crimes committed in Gaza in violation of the Rome Statute and the Fourth Geneva Convention. It has also issued an international appeal for information about the undermentioned war crimes suspects. more.. e-mail
Hebron houses slated for demolition, Israel tells residents
Ma’an News Agency 1/27/2009
Hebron Maan Israeli authorities are planning to demolish Palestinian homes near Hebron, according to an advance notice sent to residents on Tuesday. The demolitions will affect residents at Um Lasfah, a village east of Hebrons Yatta area. Demolition notices were sent to Ismail Al-Adra, warning of the impending action, which will leave 20 Palestinians homeless. Israeli authorities demolished several houses in the same area in 2008. Israel is also planning to demolish an eight-meter room inside the hosue of Ismail Alian, who lost his last appeal against the action, according to a similar notice. The head of Hebrons Territories Center, Jamal Al-Emlah, said the decisions violate the human right of living freely in ones home. He added that International Quartet Envoy Tony Blair had promised to end such demolitions. more.. e-mail
IOF closes Gaza crossings after killing Palestinian farmer
Palestinian Information Center 1/27/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday closed down all Gaza commercial crossings in what they said was a retaliation to the bombing of an IOF patrol, which was followed by IOF intensive firing that killed a Palestinian farmer. Ra’ed Fattuh, the head of the committee supervising entry of goods into the Gaza Strip, said that around 110 trucks were expected through the Beit Hanun (Erez) crossing on Tuesday along with cooking gas and diesel through Shujaiah (Nahal Oz) crossing. He said that 80 trucks of wheat and fodder were expected through Mintar (Karni) crossing along with 18 trucks for the private sector and assistance from Jordanians, Arabs and UNRWA. He added that IOF did not change the nature of goods allowed into the Strip and they remained similar to the pre Gaza war mainly wheat, rice, cooking oil, frozen meat and dairy products. more.. e-mail
Red Cross: 115 Gazans missing since Operation Cast Lead
Reuters, Ha’aretz 1/28/2009
About 115 Palestinians have been registered by their families as missing in the conflict in Gaza, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday. The neutral humanitarian agency said in a statement that it was trying to trace the missing and restore contact between them and their loved ones. "They may have been detained, wounded or just not been in touch," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas told. The ICRC has no information on Palestinians detained by Israeli forces during the offensive but the spokeswoman said it expected to have access to all detainees. A three-week Israeli air and ground offensive killed 1,300 people in the Gaza Strip before a fragile ceasefire was put in place 10 days ago. An Israeli soldier was killed by a bomb on the border with the coastal enclave. . . more.. e-mail
Factory’s ruin bodes ill for Gaza
Oakland Ross, Toronto Star 1/27/2009
Businessman says his tile plant destroyed by Israelis for ’revenge,’ dozens put out of work - KARNI CROSSING, GAZA STRIP For 10 years, Mohammed el-Ashram journeyed each day from his home in Gaza City to his factory near the Israeli border, to supervise the manufacture of tiles. He makes the same trek still, but now he spends his days huddling in the shadows of ruin, as he ponders the injustice of war." I come here just to be here," the grey-bearded Palestinian businessman said the other day. "We have lost everything." As he spoke to a reporter, el-Ashram slouched in a tube-metal chair against a backdrop of crumpled aluminum siding, twisted metal struts, and smashed slabs of concrete all that now remains of the El-Ashram Tile Factory, the manufacturing venture he launched in 1999. more.. e-mail
Settlers attack two children in Hebron
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/27/2009
Palestinian medical sources in Hebron, in the southern West bank, reported on Monday that Israeli setters hurled stones and empty bottles at two brothers, aged 4 and 5, in the Old City of Hebron, causing minor injuries. The sources stated that Amer Qneiby, age 4, and his brother Yassin, age 5, were mildly injured in front of their home after settlers hurled empty bottles and stones at them. The two children were playing in front of their home, adjacent to the Abraham Abino illegal settlement outpost in the city. Local sources in the city reported that settlers are carrying out repeated attacks against the Palestinian residents of Hebron, their homes and their properties. In related news, settlers attacked several shepherds east of the West Bank city of Tubas, and forced them out of the area under gunpoint. more.. e-mail
Two Palestinian youth injured by Israeli military fire in northern West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/27/2009
Medical sources reported that Israeli troops shot and injured two Palestinian youth on Tuesday morning at al-Far’a refugee camp, located in Tubas city in the northern West Bank. Local sources reported that Israeli soldiers stormed the refugee camp on Tuesday morning and opened fire at local resident and their homes, injuring the two youth. Medical sources reported that two Palestinians youth sustained medium-range wounds and were indentified as Imad Tayah, age 21 and Jalal Jamal, age 20. [end]
VIDEO - Israeli soldier and Palestinian killed in attacks near Gaza border
Peter Walker and agencies, The Guardian 1/27/2009
Roadside bombing close to crossing point Farmer shot dead by troops - An Israeli soldier and a Palestinian man were killed in Gaza today during the most serious outbreak of violence since a ceasefire came into force nine days ago. The soldier was killed, and three others injured, in a roadside bombing near the Kissufim crossing between central Gaza and Israel. The blast, the first major breach of the informal weeklong truce, also wounded three soldiers and triggered a brief battle when Israeli soldiers briefly crossed the border in search of the attackers. A 27-year-old Palestinian farmer was shot dead by Israeli troops in the same area. Local people reported seeing Israeli tanks and bulldozers crossing the border. Israel responded with an air strike in the south of Gaza. Hamas said one of its members was injured in the attack while riding a motorbike near the town of Khan Younis. more.. e-mail
Farmer killed in Gaza, soldier dies in explosion
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/27/2009
Gaza -- Israeli forces razed large areas of land in the central Gaza Strip between Deir Al Belah and Al Maghazi Tuesday evening. In the morning the military had killed a farmer. The armed resistance fired at a military patrol past the agreed upon line and killed a soldier Tuesday afternoon while an Israeli warplane fired into Al Qarara and a tank shelled a house near Kissufim early that evening. Under decades of occupation Gaza Strip Palestinian farmers are frequent targets. Within the past several days of "ceasefire" the army has opened fire on farmers in their fields, particularly those nearest the boundary lines. At a length of approximately 23 miles long and from three to seven wide, much of Gaza’s farm land is "near the border. "This morning Israeli forces bombed houses in Al Qarara, a small town just to the northeast of Khan Younis where the Abu Holi Checkpoint was imposed before the withdrawal of settlers in 2005. more.. e-mail
Palestinian critically injured as drone fires over Khan Younis
Ma’an News Agency 1/27/2009
Gaza Maan A Palestinian man was critically injured after an aerial drone opened fire in the center of southern Gazas Khan Younis early Tuesday evening. The reconnaissance drone fired on Hayan As-Ser, who was riding a motorcycle, in the neighborhood of Akkad, central Khan Younis, witnesses said. As-Ser was taken to Nasser Hospital for emergency surgery, according to Dr Muawiya Hassanein, the de facto Health Ministrys director of Ambulance and Emergency Services. Hassanein described As-Sers condition as critical. The attack came following the death of an Israeli soldier, who was killed by an explosive device near the Kissufim kibbutz on the Israel-Gaza border on Tuesday morning. Three other soldiers were injured in the blast that targeted a military convoy. Meanwhile, Israeli military mechanics entered the Abu-Hammam and Wadi As-Salqa areas near the Kissufim. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli Army kills a Palestinian farmer near Gaza Israeli border
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/27/2009
A Palestinian farmer was killed near the Israeli Gaza border as he was shot by Israeli tanks on Tuesday. Witnesses said that Israeli tanks shelled civilian homes and farms, located near the southern Gaza strip city of Khan Younis,in the village of al-Faraheen at borders with Israel. Medics said that Anwar Al Bareem, age 27, arrived dead at the hospital in Khan Younis after being shot by tank fire. Israeli media sources said that Israeli troops at the borders opened fire and clashed with local fighters before shelling nearby areas, the Israeli Army also said that a road side bomb was detonated by Palestinian fighters near Israeli military vehicles. Media sources said that an Israeli soldier was killed by the road side bomb which exploded near the southern Gaza -- Israel borders. Army sources reported that an Israeli soldier was killed and three injured by the road side bomb. more.. e-mail
Palestinian gunman involved in today’s attack injured in IAF strike
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/27/2009
Air Force targets motorcycle in Khan Younis driven by Hussain Abu Shamia, who took part in border attack on IDF patrol earlier today that killed soldier, wounded three. Top military officials said response to attack ’should not be proportional’ - Palestinian sources in Gaza reported Tuesday that the Israeli Air Force fired at a motorcycle in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis. One man was confirmed wounded in the attack, identified by defense officials as Hussain Abu Shamia, who was involved in the border attack on an IDF patrol earlier today that killed one soldier and wounded three. According to the officials, a terror cell affiliated with the Worldwide Jihad planted five explosive devices along the security fence in an attempt to hit IDF forces on patrol. The group is apparently not directly linked to Hamas, but may have been operating under its auspices. more.. e-mail
Soldier killed, 3 injured in border blast
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/27/2009
Six days after last soldier leaves Gaza, explosive device detonated near army patrol vehicle traveling along border fence. Non-commissioned officer killed, officer seriously injured, two other troops sustain light wounds. Palestinians report of clashes in area, including sniper fire - For the first time since the last IDF soldier left Gaza six days ago following Operation Cast Lead, Palestinian organizations resume activities against Israeli army: An IDF soldier was killed Tuesday morning as an explosive device exploded near the Kissufim crossing along the border with the Gaza Strip. An officer was seriously injured in the incident and two other troops sustained light wounds. They received initial medical treatment on site and were evacuated to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba with injuries to their limbs and shrapnel wounds. more.. e-mail
Israeli soldier killed in explosion near Gaza
Middle East Online 1/27/2009
GAZA CITY - One Israeli soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an explosion on Tuesday near the Gaza Strip, the pan-Arab Al-Arabiya television channel reported. The Dubai-based channel reported the information citing one of its correspondents in Israel. Qatar-based Al-Jazeera reported that the soldier was killed when a shell hit a group of Israeli troops on the Gaza border. Security sources in Israel confirmed an explosion near an army unit patrolling the border in central Gaza, but did not comment on casualties. "An explosive device was detonated near an army force patrolling the border on the Israeli side," a security source said on condition of anonymity. Palestinians living near the area of Khan Yunis reported hearing fire from tanks and said Israeli warplanes were overflying the area. more.. e-mail
Gazans wounded in Israeli air raid
Al Jazeera 1/27/2009
Two people have been wounded in an Israeli air raid on the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Palestinian medical officials have said. Hamas, the Palestinian group, said one of its members was injured in the attack as he was riding a motorcycle in the town of Khan Younis on Tuesday. The raid came after an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian were reported to have been killed in a clash near the Kissufim border crossing. Israel and the Hamas government of the Gaza Strip have maintained uneasy ceasfires since the end of Israel’s three-week campaign in Gaza, in which 1,300 people were killed, on January 18. Neither Hamas nor any other group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Israeli patrol near the Kissufim crossing. The incident is the first apparent [Palestinian] breach of the January 18 ceasefires. -- See also: Ceasefire Broken From Day One more.. e-mail
Killings Threaten Gaza Truce
Griff Witte, Washington Post 1/27/2009
Tensions Rise Before Visit of New Middle East Envoy - JERUSALEM, Jan. 27 -- Palestinian fighters detonated a bomb near the fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, killing an Israeli soldier, the Israeli military said. Later in the day, Israeli gunfire killed a Palestinian farmer, and an airstrike critically wounded two men, at least one of whom was a Hamas gunman, according to Gazan medical officials.... The Israeli military said it had closed the border crossings with Gaza after the attack on the soldiers, preventing 185 truckloads of humanitarian supplies and other goods from entering the coastal enclave. There was no immediate indication of when they would reopen.... Continuing with a Bush administration policy of not talking to Hamas, which the United States considers a terrorist organization, Mitchell is not expected to meet with any members of the movement. more.. e-mail
Deadly roadside bombing ’threatens Gaza truce’
Matti Friedman, AP, The Independent 1/27/2009
Palestinian militants today detonated a bomb next to an Israeli army patrol along the border with Gaza, killing one soldier and wounding three others in the first serious clash since a cease-fire went into effect more than a week ago. Israeli soldiers quickly crossed the border in search of the attackers and Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, said Israel "cannot accept" the attack. "We will respond, but there is no point in elaborating," Barak said in comments released by his office. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. The incident jolted the calm that has largely prevailed since Israel ended a devastating three-week offensive on January 17. Since withdrawing its troops, Israel has threatened to strike hard at any violations of the truce. Heavy gunfire was audible along the border in central Gaza and Israeli helicopters hovered in the air firing machine gun bursts, Palestinian witnesses said. -- See also: Ceasefire Broken From Day One more.. e-mail
IOF aerial bombing wounds 3 Palestinians
Palestinian Information Center 1/27/2009
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Israeli aerial bombardment of a motor bicycle in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday wounded three Palestinian citizens including two children. Medical sources told PIC reporter that Hussein Shamiya, 24, was seriously wounded when his motorbike was targeted in Akkad refugee camp in Khan Younis while two children passing nearby were moderately injured. The sources said that Shamiya suffered serious injuries including amputation of his limbs. The incident follows the Israeli occupation forces’ incursion on Tuesday morning east of Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza Strip, that was made after an explosive device blasted an IOF jeep killing a soldier and wounding three others. more.. e-mail
The Israeli military bombs homes in southern Gaza
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/27/2009
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli army helicopters fired shells and resident homes located near Deir Al Balah town in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Witnesses said that Israeli troops also took over a house there which is near the Gaza Israeli borders. Local sources said that the bombardment caused damage but no injuries. [end]
Police arrest Jewish teens for allegedly assaulting Arab youth in Galilee
Eli Ashkenazi, Ha’aretz 1/28/2009
An Arab youth from the Galilee village of Majd el-Krum was injured lightly on Monday night after a gang of Jewish teens beat him with sticks while he was walking along the promenade in Tiberias. Police arrested eight suspects ranging from 14 to 16 years of age who are believed to have taken part in the assault. The victim, Mohammed Mansur, was rushed to Poriah Hospital near Tiberias, where he was treated for injuries sustained all over his body. The suspects were taken into custody after police launched a city-wide search during which they set up checkpoints on main roads and thoroughfares. The teens will be arraigned on Tuesday morning. Police will recommend that the Tiberias Magistrate’s Court extend their remand. The incident occurred two days after police arrested nine people suspected of assaulting Arab residents of Upper Nazareth and their property. -- See also: Israeli police launch campaign targeting Arab citizens more.. e-mail
Tiberias youths suspected of beating Arab man
Sharon Roffe-Ofir, YNetNews 1/27/2009
Nine teenagers aged 14 to 16 arrested after allegedly assaulting 20-year-old Majdal Krum resident while walking on promenade. ’They hit him mercilessly,’ police source says - Violence against north’s Arab residents spreading:Nine youths from the northern city of Tiberias were arrested Monday night for allegedly beating a 20-year-old resident of the Arab town of Majdal Krum with clubs. The man, Muhammad Mansour, was hospitalized at the Poria State Hospital in Tiberias in light condition. Police suspect that the youths, aged 14 to 16, assaulted the man after realizing he is Arab. An initial investigation revealed that the young man ran into the group of teenagers while heading home after spending time at the Tiberias promenade. "The teenagers surrounded him and asked, ’Where are you from? ’ When he said he was from Majdal Krum, they beat him mercilessly," said Tiberias Police Commander Effie Partuk. more.. e-mail
At a Flash Point in Gaza, A Family’s Deadly Ordeal
Jonathan Finer, Washington Post 1/27/2009
ZAYTOUN, Gaza Strip -- Just before dawn on Jan. 4, a sledgehammer crashed through the living-room wall of the home of Almaz al-Samuni in this southern enclave of Gaza City, pounding a hole wide enough for someone to poke a rifle through while shouting in a language she didn’t understand." Get out of the house now," an Israeli soldier ordered, this time in accented Arabic, she recalled. Almaz, small for her age of 13, and her family quickly did as they were told, heading for her uncle Wael’s house nearby, where by daybreak 92 family members had packed in thigh-to-thigh. It was a week into Israel’s 22-day war with Hamas. At least 29 members of the Samuni family died over the next two weeks -- including Almaz’s mother and two brothers. Sixteen or more were killed Jan. 5 when at least two Israeli shells smashed Wael al-Samuni’s crowded house. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops invade West Bank, take nine for questioning
Ma’an News Agency 1/27/2009
Bethlehem Maan Israeli troops detained nine Palestinians from across the West Bank overnight Monday. Israeli sources said the men were all wanted. Two were from Ramallah, three from Badras near Ramallah, two from Bethlehem and two from Hebron. Palestinian security sources noted that seven Israeli patrols overran Al-Karkafeh Street in Bethlehem and raided a Zbun family house. They detained 24 year-old Ayesh Ibrahim Suleiman Nawawreh. Israeli troops also raided the Al-Azzeh refugee camp in Bethlehem and detained 18-year-old Maher Muhammad Issa Zbun after raiding his house. In Hebron, Palestinian security forces said Israeli troops overran Al-Thahriyeh village south Hebron and raided several houses. Those detained were identified as 34-year-old Muhammad Abdel Jalil Al-Hawarin and Tareq Abu Allan. more.. e-mail
The Israeli army kidnaps three civilians during pre dawn invasions in Hebron area
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/27/2009
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli military has kidnapped three Palestinian civilians during pre dawn invasions targeting the southern West Bank city of Hebron and near by villages on Tuesday. The sources said that Israeli troops attacked and searched resident homes in Hebron city, the nearby Al Thahriya town as well as Dora village. The operation which lasted for several hours ended when troops too the three men and left. The three were identified as Mo'ayad AL Natsha, 22, Mohamed AL Harwan, and Tarik Abu Allan. Witness in Al Thahriya town said that troops searched homes and local shops and damaged some of the people belongs during the search. more.. e-mail
The Israeli army kidnaps five Palestinian civilians from Ramallah
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/27/2009
Five Palestinian civilians where kidnapped by Israeli troops during an invasion targeting the central West Bank city of Ramallah and nearby villages on Tuesday. In Budrus village Israeli troops searched and ransacked homesthen kidnapped three civilians and took then to unknown locations, witnesses reported. In Kufer Malak village, Israeli troops stormed some homes then kidnapped two men and took them to unknown locations. People said that troops destroyed some of their belongings during the search. [end]
Family keeps name private of IDF tracker slain on Gaza border
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 1/28/2009
The name of the 23-year-old Israel Defense Forces NCO killed Tuesday near the Gaza border was not released to the press, at the request of the family. A mourning tent was erected at the entrance to the neighborhood of the Bedouin town in which he lived, with many of the residents coming to pay their condolences to the family. He was buried in the local cemetery, with many members of the Bedouin community attending. The soldier is survived by his wife and two children. He served as a tracker with the Desert Patrol Battalion of the Givati Brigade. Friends of the family said that he had lived with his parents and was planning to build a home in a new neighborhood under construction in the town. "He was a good man, entirely dedicated to the army," a neighbor said. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 012709
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/27/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 00s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Tuesday, January 27th, 2009. The Israeli army kills a Palestinian farmer in Gaza, and kidnaps civilians from the West Bank, these stories and more coming up. Stay tuned. The News Cast A Palestinian farmer was killed near the Israeli Gaza border when he was fired on by Israeli tanks on Tuesday. Witnesses said that Israeli tanks shelled civilian homes and farms, in the village of al-Faraheen at borders with Israel, located near the southern Gaza strip city of Khan Younis, Medics said that Anwar Al Bareem, age 27, was dead on arrival at the hospital in Khan Younis. Israeli media sources said that Israeli troops near the border opened fire and clashed with local fighters before shelling nearby areas. more.. e-mail
Ongoing operation: Israeli forces storm Husan near Bethlehem; arrest 30
Ma’an News Agency 1/26/2009
Bethlehem Maan Israeli forces stormed the southern West Bank village of Husan and imposed curfew early morning on Monday. Eyewitnesses said hundreds of soldiers in military vehicles and bulldozers entered the village, south of Bethlehem, and began house-to-house inspections assaulting citizens indiscriminately. Bulldozers dug up the main roads linking the village with neighboring areasInitial reports say 30 people have been arrested, and the operation was ongoing at press time. Palestinian security sources told Maan Israeli forces declared the village a closed military zone and refused to allow university students leave the village in order to attend classes. more.. e-mail
Nine Israelis arrested in upper Nazareth on suspicions of attacking Arabs
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/26/2009
Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that the Israeli police arrested on Sunday nine Israelis suspected of carrying nationally motivated attacks against Arab residents, and their properties, in the Upper Nazareth. Haaretz added that seven of the suspects are underage, between the ages of 15 and 18, and the other two are 22 years old. The Israeli police said that it had been conducting a probe since several months, and that the arrested suspects are believed to be responsible for torching Arab vehicles, and attempting to set Arab homes of fire. According to Haaretz report, Shimon Koren, police commander in Nazareth District, said that the police will do whatever it can to prevent attacks driven by race, religion or gender. There are approximately 50. 000 residents in Upper Nazareth, 10. 000 of them are Arabs. more.. e-mail
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian shepherds in northern West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/26/2009
Palestinian shepherds reported on Monday that Israeli settlers attacked them on lands located near Tubas city in the northern part of the West Bank. According to the Shepherds a group of armed Israeli settlers attacked them then threatened to shot them and their sheep if they do not leave. The settlers said that next time they will shoot to kill, the shepherds reported. The land is located near by an Israeli settlement and it’s owned by local farmers. [end]
Israeli Army kidnaps 11 civilians, and clash with local youth near Bethlehem
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/26/2009
Palestinian sources reported that heavy clashes have erupted between local youth and invading Israeli troops at Hussan village, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem on Monday midday. Army vehicles and troops along side two bulldozers invaded the village on Monday at dawn. Villagers said that troops then started to search homes and took all men from the age of 15 to 45 to the local school, and then kidnapped 11 of them and took them to an unknown location. Mohamed Odeh, a local resident of Hussan, called local journalists and told them that troops had taken over his home, then forced his family in one room of the house and held them with out any food, water or electricity. Another resident of the village speaking under conditions of immunity told IMEMC that soldiers had stormed the villagers’ homes and counted family members and took measurements of their homes. more.. e-mail
The Israeli Army kidnaps three Palestinians near Hebron
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/26/2009
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli Army attacked several villages near the southern West Bank city of Hebron and kidnapped three civilians on Monday at dawn. Witnesses said that Israeli troops attacked and searched scores of homes in the village of Yatta and the nearby village of Dora. Witnesses said that troops forced men outside during the search. Local sources identified those kidnapped as Abed AL Ghani Bader, age 18, Amjad Qazaz, age 26, and Ahmad Nawajah, who works as an officer in the Palestinian President’s Gourds unit. [end]
Infant dies of wounds sustained in Israeli assault on Gaza
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/26/2009
Palestinian medical sources at al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, reported on Sunday that a Palestinian infant died at the hospital of wounds sustained during the recent Israel war against the Gaza Strip. The infant, Nancy Sa’di Wakid, age 6 months, inhaled gas that was radiated by Phosphoric bombs dropped by Israel on Gaza. She suffered serious complications in her lungs and died of her wounds. Nancy is the youngest Palestinian killed in Israel’s war on Gaza. More than 1,335 Palestinians have been killed, and 5,000 injured, in the 23-day Israeli masacre of Gaza. Most of the casualties were women, children and elderly civilians. [end]
Palestinian man dies of wounds sustained earlier in Gaza
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/26/2009
A Palestinian man was reported dead on Monday in a hospital in Egypt after succumbing to wounds he sustained during the latest Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip. The man, Mohamed AL Burai, 29, was moved to Egypt several days ago, the Palestinian consulate in Cairo reported. Al Burai is the 30th Palestinian to die in Egypt after sustaining wounds in the latest Israeli attacks. The Israeli Army embarked on its military offensive on Saturday, December 27th, 2008. For 22 days, homes, schools, mosques, UN centers, and media agencies were attacked by Israeli air, sea, and ground forces. The Palestinian Ministry of Health this week has placed the death toll in Gaza due to the military offensive at 1,330 with at least 5,000 injured. Doctors say that of those 1,330 killed there are at least 400 children. Israel announced the unilateral ceasefire on Sunday 17th of Jan. 2009. more.. e-mail
Unexploded munitions presenting new problem for children, aid workers
Ma’an News Agency 1/26/2009
Bethlehem - Maan/IRIN - Sources in the international aid community told the UN that ordnance clearing NGOs are trying to enter Gaza to assess the risk of unexploded munitions in Gaza, but have not been granted access to the area by Israeli officials. Shortly after Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza, two children were killed when they came across some unexploded military munitions. ICRC staff member Imad Abou Hasirah explained that "Most children stayed at home during the past three weeks because there was no let-up in hostilities. Now that the fighting is over they are venturing out onto the streets again, but they run the risk of being killed or maimed by these remnants of war. Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, was quoted by the UN as saying "There is no problem as far as I know. more.. e-mail
Gazas ’ghost’ suicide bombers unveiled
Abdul Hameed Bakier, Asia Times 1/27/2009
Recently, Islamic and jihadi Internet forums circulated an article entitled "The Ghost suicide bombers. Who are they? And how do they spend their day? "[1]. The posting, written by the Gaza correspondent for the influential Doha-based Islamonline website, included a short interview with the trainers of Hamas’ suicide bombers. Islamonline’s correspondent, Muhammad al-Sawaf, said the suicide bombers, known as "ghosts" to other Gaza militants, are the first line of defense in Gaza. They spend up to 48 hours at a time in ditches, reciting verses from the Koran while waiting for Israeli forces to pass by in order to blow them up. The bombers belong to the military wing of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam battalions of Hamas. Abu Moath, an al-Qassam leader supervising the suicide bombers, said the bombers are very determined individuals chosen carefully by Hamas: "They live like any other pious Palestinian youth. more.. e-mail
Israeli soldiers: 'We shelled a house that had a wounded soldier in it'
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/26/2009
Israeli newspaper, Maariv, reported that soldiers who participated in invading Gaza said that one soldier was captured by the resistance in a home that was apparently wired, and that the army shelled the home while the wounded soldier was in it. The soldiers said that they broke into a home to search it and that a fighter who was apparently hiding there opened fire at them wounding one soldier. The unit commander then noticed a device that looked like an explosive charge and ordered the soldiers to evacuate the building immediately. All soldiers, expected the injured one, left the building. Soldiers then assumed that the wounded soldier was dead and fired three shells at the home. After firing the shells, soldiers broke into the building to find their comrade and a Palestinian man dead. Israeli TV, Channel 10, reported on Sunday evening, that army officials gave strict order to the soldiers not to be captured by the resistance. more.. e-mail
Israeli soldiers told to avoid capture ’at all costs’
Middle East Online 1/26/2009
JERUSALEM - Israeli soldiers who fought in the Gaza offensive were given orders to avoid "at all costs" being captured by Palestinian resistance fighters, an Israeli military source said on Monday. Soldiers were told to open fire on anyone trying to capture them, even if this put their own lives in danger, the source said. A lieutenant-colonel of the elite Golani unit told his men: "You must avoid at all cost that one of you be captured alive by Hamas, even if that means blowing yourself up with your grenades. " But the army insisted in a statement there were no orders for soldiers to kill themselves in case of capture and that the words of the officer were "aimed at strengthening their fighting spirit. " Military sources said Palestinian resistance fighters sought on several occasions to capture Israeli soldiers during the December 27 to January 18 Operation Cast Lead. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 012609
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/26/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 74 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Monday, January 26th, 2009. A Palestinian man from Gaza dies of wounds sustained earlier this month and Israeli troops kidnap civilians in the West Bank, these stories and more coming up. Stay tuned. The News Cast A Palestinian man was reported dead on Monday in a hospital in Egypt after succumbing to wounds he sustained during the latest Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip. The man, Mohamed Al Burai, 29, was moved to Egypt several days ago, the Palestinian consulate in Cairo reported. Al Burai is the 30th Palestinian to die in Egypt after sustaining wounds in the latest Israeli attacks. The Israeli Army embarked on its military offensive on Saturday, December 27th, 2008. more.. e-mail
Unexploded Bombs Hold More Deaths
Erin Cunningham, Inter Press Service 1/25/2009
GAZA CITY, Jan 24(IPS) - At first the 44 children that live in the Zani family home in Beit Hanoun were wary of the unexploded F-16 rocket whose tail has protruded menacingly from their garden since it landed in the first week of the Israeli assault on Gaza. Now, they have grown used it - playing excitedly near it and even building fires next to it, a relative says. "What else are we supposed to do? " asks Mohamed Zani, father of 18 of the children living at the Zani home. "This is our situation, and we have to live with it. " Zani says he has been calling Gaza’s civil defence force, which was targeted in the invasion and is now located at a makeshift headquarters in the Al-Shifa hospital, to remove the missile. But the Gaza administration simply does not have the funds, equipment or know-how to discharge the weapons. "I don’t know who else to call," Zani said. "It seems that nobody is able to help us. " more.. e-mail
The Israeli army opens fire at resident homes in southern Gaza
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/24/2009
The Israeli army opened fire at resident homes and farm lands located at Al Faraheen village located in the southern part of the Gaza strip on Saturday. The residents said that Israeli tanks stationed at the borders opened fire at their homes and farms; damage was reported but no injuries. The Israeli Army embarked on its military offensive on Saturday, December 27th, 2008. For 22 days, homes, schools, mosques, UN centers, and media agencies were attacked by Israeli air, sea, and ground forces. Israel announced the unilateral ceasefire on Sunday 17th of Jan. 2009. Todays incident is not the first time Israels violate its cease fire, On Thursday, Israeli Navy forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen just off the shore of Gaza City, injuring seven civilians. On day before, on Wednesday, the boats fired shells at the coast line, causing damage but no injuries. more.. e-mail
Long term soil devastation in Gaza due to use of white phosphorus and depleted uranium
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/24/2009
Gaza -- Losses are huge in the Gaza Strip with many of the devastated population still in tears, some little kids afraid to return to school today. The environmental effects will continue to be uncovered for years on lands that become less fertile with each invasion and home demolition. The Agriculture Minister in the Gaza Strip noted today that the Israeli military continues to target farmers on their lands near the boundary lines. Many people are unable to reach the fields. He added on Saturday that in the Mediterranean just off the Gaza coast Israeli naval ships continue to open fire on fishermen, preventing them from working. Financially speaking it is clear that reconstruction costs in the Strip are around two billion. The Ministry of Agriculture says that another 170 million USD is needed for that sector alone. Agriculture Minister Mohammad Al Agha told a press conference in Gaza City today that nearly a thousand water wells were destroyed. . . more.. e-mail
Palestinian child in coma after IOF sniper shot him
Palestinian Information Center 1/24/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- A Palestinian child was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper east of Gaza city and he is currently in deep coma and in a very critical condition, medical sources reported. They told the PIC that the child Mahmoud Hasanein was admitted to Shifa hospital on Thursday in a very serious condition and was in the intensive care unit. Israeli gunboats on that same day fired at Palestinian homes near the Gaza coasts wounding a number of them. Meanwhile, Muawiya Hasanein, the director of ambulance and emergency in the health ministry, said that two Palestinian citizens succumbed to their wounds sustained during the Israeli occupation forces’ three weeks war on the Gaza Strip. He said that the two were being treated in Egyptian hospitals. Hasanein also said that ambulance teams recovered two bodies under the rubble west of Gaza city but they were not yet identified. more.. e-mail
Week after war’s end, Gaza residents salvage what they can
Catrin Ormestad, Ha’aretz 1/26/2009
In the streets of Gaza City, vendors are peddling the last of the Egyptian goods, which were smuggled into Gaza before the war. But in Rafah, repair work is already underway at the bombed tunnels. Some of the diesel pipelines are still operating. Hamas’ security forces are back on the street corners, casually flaunting their Kalashnikovs, and the refugees have left the shelters and returned home, or - if their houses were destroyed - to stay with relatives. One week after the war ended, Gaza is struggling to return to some kind of normality. Most shops are open, and the children were set to return to school. Teams from UNRWA, the Red Crescent, Oxfam and other aid organizations are touring the worst-affected areas to assess both the damage and what is needed. But the healing and the reconstruction have merely begun. more.. e-mail
Islamic University in Gaza estimates damage to campus at 15 million US dollars
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2009
Gaza Maan The Islamic University in Gaza City estimated damage to its buildings and facilities at 15 million US dollars. The damage, caused by several airstrikes during Israels operation Cast Lead, saw several buildings destroyed and others severely damaged. The Universitys board of trustees met with the president of the university Dr Kamalein Shaath Sunday and announced that the university will launch a fundraising campaign in order to pay for repairs. Chair of the board of trustees, Jamal Al-Khudari announced a second fundraising campaign aimed at collecting 10 million US dollars to cover tuition for students who lost homes and family members during the war on Gaza. more.. e-mail
Minister: War caused 170 million in damage to Gaza farms
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2009
Gaza Maan Israels three week war caused 170 million US dollars in damage to the agriculture sector in Gaza, the Agriculture Minister in the de facto government reported on Saturday. Agriculture Minister Muhammad Al-Agha said losses could be as high as 200 million from an agricultural holocaust committed by Israel during the war. Al-Agha explained that losses in the livestock sector alone amount to 110 million dollars. He said 1,000 irrigation wells were destroyed along with, vast areas of vegetable and fruits farms, egg incubators and green houses. He pointed out that each animal farm cost more than three million dollars, highlighting that his ministry received financial support from several Arab and European countries. However, Al-Agha asserts that the ministry needs special European and international teams to investigate the possible use of depleted uranium, phosphorus, and other substances. . . more.. e-mail
Agha: $100m agriculture sector losses
Palestinian Information Center 1/25/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Mohammed Al-Agha, the agriculture minister in the Palestinian government in Gaza, has said that preliminary reports estimate agriculture losses in Gaza due to the Israeli occupation forces’ three weeks war at 100 million dollars. Agha told a press conference on Saturday that the government decided to compensate all those who suffered losses, noting that his ministry started to prepare lists of farmers whose families were killed, homes destroyed and trees uprooted. He said that an urgent financial assistance has already been disbursed to those families at an amount of 5000 dollars for each family with priority given to families without shelter. The IOF advance into the Strip was made through four or five axes all encountering agricultural fields in their ways, which destroyed tens of thousand of trees and most of the animal breeding farms along with hundreds of water wells and infrastructure, the minister elaborated. more.. e-mail
Gaza toll rises to 1,337 after death of infant girl, arrival of corpses from Egypt
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2009
Gaza Maan An infant girl died in a Gaza hospital on Sunday after breathing in the chemical white phosphorus from Israeli shells in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Palestinian medical sources said. Medics identified the girl as six-month-old Nancy Wakid, the last casualty of Israels three week offensive on the Gaza Strip. The director of ambulance and emergency service in the Palestinian Health Ministry, Muawiya Hassanein overall toll from the war is now 1,337, after the death of the infant girl and the arrival of the bodies of two Palestinians from hospitals in Egypt. The Israeli military has admitted that it used the chemical white phosphorus in its campaign in Gaza, and says that it is investigating whether it was used improperly. The chemical ignites whenever it is in contact with oxygen, and causes severe burns on the body. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces raid resorts and restaurants in Ramallah area
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2009
Ramallah Maan Israeli forces stormed homes, restaurants, and resorts in several neighborhoods in Ramallah and Al-Bireh Sunday, with no arrests reported. According to security sources five Israeli military vehicles raided the Zein restaurant in the Resorts area, Sath Marhaba, Seriet Ramallah, and Ramallah park. Witnesses said soldiers stopped a number of citizens in the streets near Sath Marhaba and the Seriet Ramallah, checked their identity cards, and reversed traffic in the area. There were no arrests reported. [end]
Israeli army seizes four Palestinian at Zatara military checkpoint near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2009
Nablus Maan Israeli army arrested four young men at the Zatara military checkpoint south of Nablus Sunday. Local witnesses told Maan that the soldiers stopped a Palestinian car and thoroughly searched it. The men traveling in the car were then arrested and taken to an unknown location. Their identities have not yet been revealed. [end]
Israeli forces storm Qabatiya, seizing five Palestinians
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2009
Jenin Maan Israeli forces seized five Palestinians during an overnight raid in the West Bank town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin on Saturday. Witnesses said Israeli troops stormed houses during the early morning hours, firing stun grenades and ordering sleeping families into the street. More than a dozen military vehicles were deployed during the raids. Palestinian security sources said that the Israeli troops arrested, Muhannad Fathi Hanaisha, Muhammad Khozimieh, Muhammad Ahmed Abu Zaid, Usama Mahmoud Abu Zaid, Ahmad Momen Abu Zeid. Qabatiya residents also said that they heard the sound of explosions near the house of Ahmed Momen Abu Zeid. [end]
West Bank settlers seize farmland south of Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2009
Hebron Ma’an Israeli settlers flanked by soldiers seized new land south of the West Bank city of Hebron on Sunday, Palestinian security sources said. Security officials in Hebron said that the settlers, from the nearby settlement Karmel, near the Palestinian town of Yata, erected a metal fence on land near the settlement and prevented local Palestinian resident from approaching the fence. The settlers appeared to be preparing to occupy the land. The confiscated farmland belongs to families from Yatta, including Abu Hamid, Qraeich, and Abu Fanar. The Palestinians who own the land are urging international intervention to save their land, as they say farming is their only source of income. Sources in Yatta say that there has been new construction in the Karmel settlement, and that new settlers have arrived to live in the community. more.. e-mail
Two Palestinians arrested after car slams into settler bus stop near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2009
Nablus Maan Israeli soldiers arrested two young Palestinian men on Sunday after their car crashed into a bus stop near the Israeli military checkpoint Huwwara, outside of the city of Nablus. Witnesses said that Mufleh Aqel, 17, and Tamer Najeh Zakareiyah, 20, both from the village of Huwwara. Their car slammed into the bus stop which is used by Israeli settlers and soldiers. No one was injured. A large number of Israeli police officers and soldiers converged on the scene, shutting down the Huwwara and Zaatara checkpoints, stranding thousands of Palestinians. [end]
Israeli soldiers seize young vegetable seller from West Bank market
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2009
Nablus Maan Israeli soldiers seized a young vegetable seller from a market in the West Bank village of Beita, south of the city of Nablus on Sunday. Witnesses told Maan that soldiers invaded the market and arrested 18-year-old Abed Zeidan Shaker Abu Ar-Radeh, accusing him of throwing stones at an Israeli settlers car. The soldiers said that a settler car had been damaged on the settler bypass road near the village. [end]
Israeli forces clash with Palestinian youths near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2009
Jenin Maan Israeli forces invaded the West Bank town of Yabad southwest of the city of Jenin on Sunday evening, provoking clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian youths. Ten Israeli soldiers backed by a military jeep invaded the town from its southern entrance. Palestinian youths threw stones and empty bottles at the soldiers, who responded by firing live rounds into the air. No one was injured or arrested. The Israeli troops withdrew after one hour. Israeli forces have invaded the southern part of town the last three nights. [end]
Arrests in West Bank
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/25/2009
Ramallah -- On Sunday Israeli forces invaded Ramallah City in the central West Bank and stormed several homes and a restaurant. Residents report being frightened by the intimidating move that resulted in no arrests or physical injuries. Nearby Al Bireh was also raided today by Israeli forces who currently hold 11,000 Palestinians in prison. Movement was severely restricted on Sunday at the more than 600 Israeli military barriers in the West Bank as Palestinians attempted to hold nonviolent demonstrations after morning church services in Ramallah, Bethlehem and East Jerusalem. Further south in the West Bank city of Hebron Israeli forces launched an arrest campaign taking nine people from their homes for interrogation. The Israeli military said that the Palestinians were on its "wanted" list. The Hamas party in the West Bank said today that the Palestinian Authority. . . more.. e-mail
Overcome with grief, UNRWA school teacher is absent
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2009
Gaza Maan When the schools opened in the Gaza Strip Saturday, MrAl-Batran was not in his classroom. He has not been home in days, and relatives say he has not seen his one-year-old son since the massacre. Forty-year-old Issa Al-Batran may never go back home. His surviving mother and son have begged him to come back with them, but he prefers to wander the streets with his memories of Gaza before the onslaught. He was a teacher at the UN school in the Al-Bureij refugee camp; he was a father of six, a husband and a homeowner. His wife Manal, three daughters and two sons were killed in the room next to Issa. The family was living in the salon, but he had excused himself to pray in the silence of the adjacent room for a few moments. His infant son, Abd Al-Hadi, crawled after him, which is the only reason he is still alive. more.. e-mail
IDF rabbi told troops fighting in Gaza: We must not cede a single inch of Israel
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 1/26/2009
During the fighting in the Gaza Strip, the religious media - and on two occasions, the Israel Defense Forces weekly journal Bamahane - were full of praise for the army rabbinate. The substantial role of religious officers and soldiers in the front-line units of the IDF was, for the first time, supported also by the significant presence of rabbis there. The chief army rabbi, Brigadier General Avichai Rontzki, joined the troops in the field on a number of occasions, as did rabbis under his command. Officers and soldiers reported that they felt "spiritually elevated" and "morally empowered" by conversations with rabbis who gave them encouragement before the confrontation with the Palestinians. But what exactly was the content of these conversations and of the plethora of written material disseminated by the IDF rabbinate during the war? A reservist battalion. . . more.. e-mail
VIDEOS - News special: Gaza in Ruins
Al Jazeera 1/23/2009
The Gaza Strip is a land in ruins, devastated by 22 days of Israeli assault and an ongoing siege. In this Al Jazeera news special from Gaza, correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin examines the human, physical and political cost of the war. Part 1: Part one looks at how ordinary people are trying to rebuild their lives. It is almost a week since the end of this latest war, yet the death toll is still rising. Each day more bodies are found under the rubble. For the survivors, at least 100,000 now find themselves homeless. Part 2: In part two, we examine damage to the infrastructure. At least 21,000 commercial, public and private buildings have been damaged or levelled - almost 1,000 for every day of the war. The cost of rebuilding is likely to run into billions of dollars, according to the UN. Part 3: Part three explores the politics at play. more.. e-mail
Israel destroyed 41 mosques in Gaza, says ministry
Ma’an News Agency 1/23/2009
Gaza Maan Israel destroyed 41 Mosques during its 23-day assault on the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs in the de facto government reported on Friday. The ministry reports that the 16 Mosques were destroyed in Gaza City, and 19 in the area north of Gaza City. Some of the Mosques were shelled while they were full of worshipers at prayer. The ministry added that five cemeteries were shelled, in some cases corpses were exhumed by the explosions. The shelling and demolition of mosques is completely banned and not accepted in any religion, the ministry said in a statement, saying that Israels actions revealed its true, criminal face. The ministry also denied Israels claims that Palestinian fighters used mosques to store weapons. We wonder why Israel says resistance factions hide arms in mosques and the troops are shelling the schools. . . more.. e-mail
Nine government medical workers were killed in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/23/2009
Gaza Maan Israel killed nine Military Medical Services workers, including three doctors, during its assault on Gaza, the Ministry of the Interior in the Hamas-run government said on Friday. The spokesman of the Military Medical Services, Ahmed al-Kahlout said that attacks on medical workers are a violation of international law,In a statement the Military Medical Services identified the victims: Dr. Ehab Omar Al-Madhoon (General Doctor), Dr. Ehab Jaser Al-Shaer (Dermatologist), Dr Issa Abdurrahman Saleh (Dentist), Yaser Kamal Shbare (Nurse), Ahmed Subhi Al-Khateeb (Physiotherapy), Saeed Mahmud Al-Omari (Security Services), Mahmud Abu Haseera (Volunteer Nurse), Rafat Abd Al-Al (Volunteer Medic), Anas Fadel Naeem (Volunteer Medic). more.. e-mail
This Week in Palestine -Week 04 2009
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/23/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 10 m 0s || 9. 15 MB ||This Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for January 11th 2009 through to January 23ed 2009. As the Israeli military violates the announced cease fire in Gaza medics and rescue workers continue to find dead bodies among the rubble while Israeli troops kidnaps 46 Palestinians from the West Bank. These stories and more, coming up, Stay tuned. Nonviolent Activities - Let us begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank with. Ramallah The residents of Bil’in village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah gathered after the Friday prayer in an act of solidarity with the people of Gaza, and to express resistance to the Wall and settlement building. more.. e-mail
Brigade commander: Hamas will draw lessons, grow stronger
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/23/2009
’We were simply ready and came in with strong and determined soldiers,’ commander of Armored Corps 401st Brigade says regarding Gaza offensive, ’I suggest that even now we do not dismiss Hamas; it will draw lessons from the conflict and will be stronger in the next round of fighting’ - "Our achievements in Gaza have restored the Israeli people’s faith in the army," the commander of the 401st Brigade of the Armor Corps told Ynet Thursday. Colonel Yigal Slovik could not provide a clear answer as to whether Operation Cast Lead finally brought security to the residents of south Israel, but he did say that his brigade was prepared to reenter Gaza immediately if needed. The 401st Brigade rolled into Gaza through the Netzarin corridor and didn’t stop until it reached the coast, effectively dissecting the Hamas-controlled territory into a northern and southern bloc. more.. e-mail
National Resistance Brigades 'Israeli violations of ceasefire are provocative'
Ma’an News Agency 1/23/2009
Gaza Maan Israels continued truce violations are provocative and should be halted immediately, said a statement from the National Resistance Brigades (NRB), the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) Friday. Israels violations include the serious injury of two fishermen Thursday, repeated invasions from the border areas and artillery fire resulting in the death of three civilians since the Israeli ceasefire was called. These violations said the NRB, are provocative to the Palestinian resistance and if continued will force a response to the Israeli occupation. The statement added that Israel is looking for a justification for re-launching its attacks on Gaza. NRB spokesman Abu Salim, demanded that international parties enforce the Israeli ceasefire and ensure calm prevails in the region. more.. e-mail
Israeli shell injures seven civilians in Gaza, two die of earlier wounds
Ghassan Bannoura & Rami Al-Meghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/22/2009
Palestinian medical sources announced on Thursday that two Palestinians have died in Egyptian hospitals after succumbing to wounds sustained during the Israeli military offensive on Gaza, which ended on Sunday. The sources said that two residents died at one of Cairo’s hospitals, where they have been receiving life-saving medical care. They were identified as Tamer Allouh, age 22 and Azzam Ashafiy, age 24. The death toll in Gaza mounted to 1,330, while the wounded exceeded 5,000 during a 22-day onslaught on the costal region. Also on Thursday, Israeli Navy forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen just off the shore of Gaza City, injuring seven civilians. The Israeli Army embarked on its military offensive on Saturday, December 27th, 2008. For 22nd days, homes, schools, mosques, UN centers, and media agencies were attacked by Israeli air, sea, and ground forces. more.. e-mail
Israels navy shells Gaza, injuring seven
Ma’an News Agency 1/22/2009
Gaza Maan Israels navy shelled the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, injuring seven Palestinians, including five fishermen. Muawiyah Hassanain, the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry told Maan that Israeli gunboats shelled the As-Sudaniya area northwest of Gaza City. He said the wounded people were taken to Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Hassanain added that rescue teams are still working to recover the corpses, many of them now decomposing, of those killed in Israels three-week war on Gaza. Separately, two Palestinians died in Egyptian hospitals where they were treated for wounds from Israels three-week offensive. Medical officials identified them as: Tamer Omar Al-Louh, 22, from Gaza city and Azzam Muawad Ash-Shafey, 24, from Rafah. more.. e-mail
Al-Aqsa Brigades will respond to Israeli ceasefire violations
Ma’an News Agency 1/22/2009
Bethlehem Maan The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, said on Thursday that they are prepared to respond to violations of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The group issued this statement came after Israels navy shelled the Gaza harbor, wounding seven Palestinians in spite of a ceasefire declared on Saturday. The Yasser Arafat Brigades, a faction within the Al-Aqsa Brigades, said that it views this shelling as a violation. The group said it would respond in at the appropriate time and place. The group said it would not remain silent while Palestinian civilians are attacked. [end]
The Israeli military kidnaps three civilians from Nablus City
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/22/2009
Palestinian sources reported that Israeli troops invaded the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday and kidnapped three civilians. Local sources said that the Israeli forces attacked and searched homes in Nablus city and the nearby Balata refugee camp. Troops then kidnapped three men and took them to unknown location. Witnesses identified the three civilians as Yasser Mana’, age 20, Tarik Al Ka’bi and Mohamed Abu Ziton. [end]
Palestinians: Shell fired from Israeli gunboat wounds two in Gaza
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/23/2009
A Palestinian medical official on Thursday said that an Israeli gunboat firing off the shores of Gaza City has wounded a man and a girl. The Israel Defense Forces said it was firing to deter a Palestinian fishing vessel that had strayed off limits. Dr. Moaiya Hassanain said a shell fired by the boat hit a house in a beachside refugee camp, adding that the two who were wounded were walking in the street. Another shell landed 100 yards (meters) away in an empty area near a UN aid distribution center. Three gunboats were operating off Gaza City’s coast Thursday. Gunboats have been firing off Gaza’s shore for several days despite a cease-fire that has ended a three-week offensive against Gaza rocket operations aimed at Israel. more.. e-mail
IDF gunboat fire wounds 2 Gazans
Associated Press, YNetNews 1/22/2009
Palestinian medical official says man, girl injured by shell while walking on street. Army says it was firing to deter Palestinian fishing vessel that strayed off-limits -A Palestinian medical official said that an Israeli gunboat firing off the shores of Gaza City on Thursday morning wounded a man and a girl. The Israeli military said in response that it was firing to deter a Palestinian fishing vessel that had strayed off-limits. According to the reports, the fire was directed at the Sudaniya area in the western part of Gaza City. Dr. Moaiya Hassanain says a shell fired by the boat hit a house in a beachside refugee camp. He says the two who were wounded were walking in the street. Another shell landed 100 yards away in an empty area near a UN aid distribution center, the report said. more.. e-mail
Gaza fighters vow to rearm
Ma’an News Agency 1/22/2009
Gaza Maan Armed Palestinian factions in Gaza said on Thursday that they will continue to obtain weapons through special means in spite of Israeli efforts to prevent arms from reaching the Palestinian territory. The An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees said that that Palestinians have a right to armed resistance. The group said that it does not care for agreements and that lifting the siege of Gaza is its goal. Another group, the Jihad Jibril Brigades, also vowed to continue obtaining arms. Militia spokesperson Abu Yousif said, Traitors were executed in the Israeli war against Gaza and the Israeli sources didnt talk about this case and they even didnt announce that they lost 100 troops and 150 were injured and will suffer from disabilities. Abu Yousef added that the military organizations in Gaza have more. . . more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 012209
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/22/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 4 m 00s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Thursday, January 22nd 2009. Two Palestinians die of earlier wounds and naval boats open fire at the Gaza shore line injuring seven civilians, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian medical sources announced on Thursday that two Palestinians have died in Egyptian hospitals after succumbing to wounds sustained during the Israeli military offensive on Gaza which ended on Sunday. The sources said that the two residents died in one of Cairo’s hospitals, where they have been receiving medical care. They were identified as Tamer Allouh, 22 and Azzam Ashafiy, 24. The death toll in Gaza is now at 1330, while the number wounded exceeds 5000 due to the Israeli attack on the coastal region. more.. e-mail
Fatah official seized by Israeli troops overnight
Ma’an News Agency 1/22/2009
Nablus Maan Israeli forces seized the local Fatah secretary from his home in West Bank the village of Deir Istiya, near Salfit, early on Thursday morning. A member of the local village council, Nathmi Salman, told Maan that Israeli soldiers invaded the village at 3am and abducted 32-year-old Shaher Abdel Aziz Salman from his house. [end]
2 east J’lem residents charged with assaulting police
Aviad Glickman, YNetNews 1/22/2009
Jerusalem District Prosecution indicts two men for aggravated assault of officers sealing off Jabel Mukaber house of terrorist who carried out deadly attack on Mercaz Harav yeshiva - Two residents of the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber were indicted on charges of aggravated assault and assaulting a police officer Thursday, after rioting during the sealing off of a terrorist’s home in the neighborhood. The incident in question took place on Monday, as police and Border Guard forces secured and sealed off the home of Alaa Abu Dheim, who killed eight yeshiva students in the attack on Mercaz Harav seminary in Jerusalem, last March. The Jerusalem District Prosecution claimed that the two - Sami Awisat, 31, and Jamil Abu-Tir, 23 - along with several other unknown individuals, gathered outside the house and began shouting and booing the forces. more.. e-mail
Reserves sent home, air force remains on alert
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 1/22/2009
The Israel Defense Forces completed its withdrawal from Gaza early yesterday morning as the last troops left the strip after more than three weeks of fighting. Top Defense Ministry Official Amos Gilad is to leave for Cairo this morning to discuss ways of preserving the cease-fire achieved earlier this week between Israel and Hamas. Infantry and armored forces pulled out of outposts in the north and south of the Gaza Strip yesterday, several hours behind schedule. Military sources warned Israel would react harshly to any fire from the strip, but no such incident occurred yesterday and the withdrawal wasuneventful. Most of the troops redeployed in the south in case a renewed conflagration occurs in Gaza, and air force squadrons are being kept on high alert. The release of reserve soldiers continued, however. more.. e-mail
How IDF lawyers okayed hitting Gaza homes
Yotam Feldman and Uri Blau, Ha’aretz 1/22/2009
The idea to bombard the closing ceremony of the Gaza police course was internally criticized in the Israel Defense Forces months before the attack. A military source involved in the planning of the attack, in which dozens of Hamas policemen were killed, says that while military intelligence officers were sure the operation should be carried out and pressed for its approval, the IDF’s international law division and the military advocate general were undecided. After months of the operational elements pushing for the attack’s approval, the international law division, headed by Col. Pnina Sharvit-Baruch, gave the go-ahead. In spite of doubts, and also under pressure, Sharvit-Baruch and her officers also legitimized the attack on Hamas government buildings and the relaxing of the rules of engagement, resulting in numerous Palestinian casualties. more.. e-mail
Seven Palestinians seized in northern West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/21/2009
Nablus Maan Israeli forces arrested seven young Palestinians in the northern West Bank on Wednesday morning, according to a village leader. The mostly teenagers were seized from their homes in the village of Qaryout, south of Nablus, early on Wednesday, the head of the villages local council told Maan. According to Abd An-Nasser Badawi, several Israeli patrols raided the village overnight and ransacked a number of houses, ultimately arresting seven young men and boys. Badawi identified the arrestees as 18-year-old Ahmad Mousa, 20-year-old Khalid Issa, 18-year-old Muhammad Amjad Mousa, 17-year-old Kutayba Farhan, 18-year-old, 18-year-old Mahmoud Nafiz, 17-year-old Abdo Kasab and 19-year-old Muhammad Abdul-Fattah. more.. e-mail
Undercover Israeli forces abduct Islamic Jihad leader near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 1/21/2009
Jenin Maan Undercover Israeli forces abducted an Islamic Jihad leader from his home in the West Bank town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, on Wednesday afternoon. According to sources in the Palestinian security services, Israeli special forces operatives disguised in civilian clothes surrounded Salih Kamils house and then seized him from outside the house. Israeli military vehicles then invaded the town, transporting the undercover agents and Kamil out of Qabatiya. Kamil was released from an Israeli prison a year ago. Since then house has been raided by Israeli forces several times, most recently a week ago. [end]
The army kidnaps six Palestinian civilians from the southern part of the West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/21/2009
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli Army has kidnapped six Palestinian civilians during a pre-dawn attack, targeting the village of Sa’er on Wednesday. Witnesses said that Israeli troops stormed the village late Tuesday night, and then began a house-to-house search campaign. The troops left the village in the morning, taking with them six civilians to unknown locations, residents reported. Among those kidnapped were Riad Jaradat, Fadi Jaradat, and Ha’er Jaradat. [end]
The Israeli army storms Qabatiya village near Jenin and kidnaps one civilian
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/21/2009
The Israeli military invaded the town of Qabatiya located near the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday and kidnapped one Palestinian civilian. Israeli troops and armored vehicles stormed the town then surrounded the house of Saleh Imel, 32, after searching the home the man was taken to unknown location, witnesses reported. The Israeli army claims that Saleh is on their wanted list, local sources said that troops searched other number of homes before leaving. [end]
Israeli Army kidnaps seven Palestinian from a village in the northern West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/21/2009
Seven Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by the Israeli Army during a pre dawn invasion, targeting the village of Qaryut, located near the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday. Local sources said that Israeli forces invaded the village, and then conducted a house -- to-house search before taking seven Palestinian civilians to unknown location. Witnesses said that among those kidnapped were; Yazan Azem, age 20, Mohamed Kassab, age 18 and Khaled Mojali, 23. [end]
Bodies of two women uncovered, three residents die of earlier wounds
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/21/2009
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Wednesday morning that the bodies of two women, aged 90 and 62, were located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and that three residents, wounded during the offensive, died of earlier wounds. Dr. Muawiya Hassanen, of the Emergency Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported that the bodies of Kamela Mustafa Al Attar, age 90, and and Halima Siyam, age 62, were found under the rubble of shelled homes in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the Arabs48 news website reported. Also, Dr. Hassanen added that resident Mohammad Saleh Abu Sweirih died at an Egyptian hospital, Imad Abdullah Miqdad died in Khan Younis Hospital, and Mohammad Madi died at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The three residents were seriously injured during the Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Despite Truce, IOF Kill Farmer near Jabalya
Palestine Media Center 1/21/2009
Two Palestinian children were killed by explosives left behind by Israeli forces in Gaza and a farmer was shot dead by Israeli gunfire, hospital officials reported. The director of Emergency and Ambulance Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, Muawiya Hassanain, told Maan that the farmer came under Israeli fire east of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. His body was taken to Kamal Udwan hospital. Earlier on Tuesday, Palestinian medical sources announced that a young boy and his sister were killed when they were playing with an unexploded bomb left behind by Israeli troops in the Ash-Shaf area of eastern Gaza city. They were identified as 10-year-old Abdullah Hassanain, and 11-year-old Shurouq Hassanain. Hospital officials urged Gaza residents to stay away from ordinance left behind by Israeli forces, and not to eat food discarded by Israeli soldiers as it may be poisoned. more.. e-mail
IOF troops bulldoze southern Gaza areas, fire at random
Palestinian Information Center 1/21/2009
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday advanced into eastern Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, in Khuza’a town and bulldozed agricultural lands in a fresh breach of its self-declared ceasefire. Local sources told the PIC reporter that a number of IOF tanks and bulldozers had advanced a few hundred meters into the area amidst random firing. The IOF troops destroyed totally or partially around 100 Palestinian houses in the area over the past few days other than damaging a large section of cultivated lands. IOF gunboats have also fired shells on Wednesday at the Gaza coasts for the third day running while IOF reconnaissance planes maintained intensive flights over the Strip. MP Samir al-Halaika in Al-Khalil city in the West Bank asked human rights groups and legal institutions to inquire about the prisoners of war who were taken from Gaza during the three weeks of IOF aggression. more.. e-mail
As the Israeli army leaves Gaza, Israeli naval boats open fire on Gaza
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/21/2009
Palestinian sources reported that Israeli naval boats opened fire on Wednesday at areas in the Gaza Strip. The sources said that the shells landed in open areas and did not cause any damage or injuries. Meanwhile the Israeli Army announced on Wednesday that all of its tanks and ground troops have left the Palestinian costal region. Resident in Gaza said the Israeli Army left but Israeli jet fighters were flying over the Gaza Strip since morning. The Israelis stopped the attack on Gaza on Sunday. The attack started on January 17th, 2008, which left more than 1,400 Palestinians killed and nearly 6,000 injured. [end]
Palestine Today 012109
Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/21/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 00s || 2. 75 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Wednesday, January 21st 2009. As the Israeli ground forces leave Gaza, five more Palestinians killed in Gaza, while 15 other kidnapped in the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian medical sources reported on Wednesday morning that the bodies of two women, aged 90 and 62, were located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and that three residents died due to wounds sustained during the Israeli offensive. Dr. Muawiya Hassanen, of the Emergency Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported that Mohammad Saleh Abu Sweirih died at an Egyptian hospital, Imad Abdullah Miqdad died in Khan Younis Hospital, and Mohammad Madi died at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza. more.. e-mail
Court: Rightist march in Arab town can be held after election
Eli Ashkenazi and Tomer Zarchin, Ha’aretz 1/21/2009
The High Court on Wednesday ruled that a march by far-rightists through the Israeli Arab town of Umm al-Fahm could go ahead after February’s general election. The ruling came after extremists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel in December petitioned the court when police decided to delay the demonstration until further notice. The State Prosecutor’s Office argued that the march needed to be deferred until after the election because of the recent hostilities in Gaza and the deteriorating security situation in Israel. Justice Edmond Levy asked the prosecution, "If a group wished to demonstrate today for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and the demonstrators were waving Israeli and Palestinian flags, and threats were heard against from this or that side - would you also say this march needed to. . . " more.. e-mail
Egypt bent at the border
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani, Electronic Intifada 1/21/2009
CAIRO (IPS) - Tens of thousands of houses inside the Gaza Strip were destroyed by air strikes and artillery during Israel’s recently concluded military campaign. Areas along Egypt’s border with the hapless enclave, meanwhile, have not been immune from the devastation. "Dozens of homes on the Egyptian side of the border were badly damaged as a result of nearby Israeli air strikes," Hatem al-Bulk, journalist and political activist, told IPS. "Most people living within two kilometers of the frontier have left for safer locations. " From the launch of Israel’s campaign on 27 December until a ceasefire declaration Saturday, 17 January, the 14-kilometer border area between Egypt and the Gaza Strip was hit by hundreds of Israeli air strikes. Israeli officials say the attacks targeted tunnels allegedly used for smuggling weapons into Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. more.. e-mail
Two children, one farmer, killed in Gaza on Tuesday
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/20/2009
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Tuesday that two Palestinian children, brother and sister, were killed when an explosive charge dropped by the army during the offensive against Gaza detonated near them. A Palestinian farmer was killed by Israeli military fire in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The sources stated that the two children are brothers and were identified as Abdullah, 10, and his sister Shorouq, 11. They were playing in Al Sha’af area, east of Gaza City, when the explosive detonated near them. Also, Maan News Agency reported that Dr. Muawiya Hassanen,head of the Emergency Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said that a Palestinian farmer was killed by Israeli gunfire while he was working in his land east of Jabalia. The body of the farmer was moved to Kamal Adwan Hospital, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
While Israeli children return to school, kids in Gaza sift through rubble to find bodies of friends
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 1/20/2009
Israeli media reported Monday that Israeli children from the town of Sderot have returned to school and normalcy. Meanwhile, children in every part of the Gaza Strip are either bleeding in overcrowded hospitals or sifting through the rubble of what used to be their schools, mosques and homes. Eissa Ermallat, 12, was killed Saturday in Rafah while collecting firewood to try to heat his family’s darkened home. He was among the last of the over 1300 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the three-week long offensive. While Ermallat was among the last casualties of the offensive itself, over a hundred bodies have been uncovered on Sunday and Monday, in the rubble of what used to be homes and apartment buildings. Abed Sharafi, an ambulance driver in Gaza, told Al Jazeera television network that he had personally helped pull fifteen bodies from the rubble. more.. e-mail
Official: 230 members of Gaza police force killed
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009
Gaza Maan The de facto government in Gaza announced on Tuesday that 230 members of its police and security forces, including the chief of police were killed in Israels three-week war on Gaza. The chief of police, Tawfiq Jaber, was also killed. Many of the police officers were killed on the first day of Israels massive bombing campaign on 27 December. Among the targets of the airstrikes were a number of police stations, the Ministry of the Interior, and even a police cadet graduation ceremony. During a press conference on Tuesday the spokesman of the security forces in Gaza, Islam Shahwan, called for an international investigation, backed by the European Unions police development program, into the destruction of the police force in Gaza. Shahwan said that nearly all the police stations in Gaza had been destroyed. more.. e-mail
'Al-Basha’er Army' claims Monday night settler attack near Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009
Bethlehem - Ma’an - Israeli medical crews said they found an Israeli settler shot in the head near the Kokhav Hashahar settlement in Ramallah on Monday night. A previously unknown group calling itself Al-Basha’er Army announced to Maan that their members were the shooters in the attack. According to Israeli sources their military and police scoured the area in search of the shooter, but were unable to find the perpetrators. They announced that an investigation has been opened into the attack. The settler is in critical condition at a local hospital. Also Monday night Israeli settlers reported being hit by a Molotov cocktail while driving on the main road between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. No injuries were reported. Israeli troops detained several youth in relation to the reported incident. more.. e-mail
Troops invade village near Jenin, impose curfew and kidnap 10 youth
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/20/2009
Palestinian sources in Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank, reported on Tuesday at dawn that Israeli soldiers invaded Toura Al Gharbiyya village, west of Jenin, and kidnapped 10 Palestinian youths. The sources stated that soldiers closed all entrances of the village and placed sand barriers on its western entrance before imposing curfew barring the residents from leaving their homes. Eyewitnesses reported that soldiers interrogated dozens of youths, cuffed and blindfolded ten before taking them to an unknown destination. Saed Qabha, a resident of the village, told the Palestine News Network that Israeli soldiers surrounded several neighborhoods , broke into and searched dozens of homes before dragging dozens of youths and children from their homes and interrogating them in the center of the village. more.. e-mail
Waqf Minister: Israel used Gaza invasion as chance to confiscate West Bank lands
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009
Jerusalem Maan Land confiscations in the West Bank are continuing, said Minister of Waqf and Religious Affairs Jamal Bawatneh, and soon there will be no land to hold a Palestinian state. In a Tuesday letter the minister expressed his concern over the continued confiscations while whole world was preoccupied with Gaza, and accused Israel of using the attacks as a free-ticket to act in the West Bank. Hundreds of dunnums of lands in Yatta village [south of] Hebron were confiscated during the Gaza invasion, said Bawatneh. He called on Arab and Islamic leaders to pay attention to the land grabs, and speak out against them. [end]
Soldiers abduct 12 Palestinians across West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009
Bethlehem Maan Israeli soldiers arrested 12 residents of the West Bank early on Tuesday morning, according to family members and witnesses. Troops raided the city of Saeer, near Hebron, on Tuesday, invading the city and seizing eight of its residents, wreaking havoc in and around homes and damaging furniture and the interior of at least one. The residents were arrested under security pretexts, according to witnesses. Other witnesses said the army fired percussion grenades inside homes, broke items belonging to residents and forced others out into the cold for several hours while a number of young men were beaten and eventually detained. They were identified as Khalil Al-Furoukh, Saeed Farahat Al-Furoukh, Ryad Sami Jaradat, Haer Nayef Jaradat, Eyad Awwad Al-Furoukh, Bilal Jameel Al-Furoukh, Anas Ali Jaradat. more.. e-mail
Israeli soldiers abduct four Palestinians near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009
Nablus Maan Israeli soldiers seized four Palestinians in the early morning hours of Tuesday near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, residents said. The young men were reportedly taken from Aseereh and Beit Ommarein, near Nablus. Local sources told Maan that a number of Israeli patrols invaded the two villages, where they entered a number of houses and searched them thoroughly. Soldiers dragged the following residents from their homes before taking them to an undisclosed location: Saber Fawzy Samara, 26, Jameel Sayel Samara, 43, from Beit Ommarien village and brothers Tayseer and Khaled Abd Allah Sawalmeh, from the northern Assereh village near Nablus. Neither the soldiers nor the Israeli military immediately announced any pretext for detaining the men, nor if they were accused or suspected of having committed any crime. more.. e-mail
Day three of ceasefire: Two children killed by Israeli ordinance, farmer shot dead
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009
Gaza Maan Two Palestinian children were killed by explosives left behind by Israeli forces in Gaza and a farmer was shot dead by Israeli gunfire, hospital officials reported. The director of Emergency and Ambulance Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, Muawiya Hassanain, told Maan that the farmer came under Israeli fire east of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. His corpse taken to Kamal Udwan hospital. Earlier on Tuesday, Palestinian medical sources announced that a young boy and his sister were killed when they were playing with an unexploded bomb left behind by Israeli troops in the Ash-Shaf area of eastern Gaza city. They were identified as 10-year-old Abdullah Hassanain, and 11-year-old Shurouq Hassanain. Hospital officials urged Gaza residents to stay away from ordinance left behind by Israeli forces, and not to eat food discarded by Israeli soldiers as it may be poisoned. more.. e-mail
’Hamas’ fires 8 mortar shells
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/20/2009
"Terrorists" testing Israel: Mortar shells launched from central Gaza, land in Palestinian areas - Shaky ceasefire in Gaza: Palestinian "terrorists" fired eight mortar shells from the central Gaza Strip Tuesday, the army said. However, it appears all shells landed in Palestinian areas, possibly due to a malfunction. In one case, the Air Force spotted a mortar near a refugee camp and targeted it. IDF officials are closely monitoring developments in the Strip and estimate that the shells were fired by Hamas and other "terrorist" groups that are attempting to "generate" several "terror" attacks daily. Army sources told Ynet that "terrorists" resorted to mortar fire, rather than a more potent attack, as not to prompt a harsh IDF response, while still maintaining a certain level of "terror" activity. The IDF said that the mortar attacks constitute a violation of the Gaza. . . more.. e-mail
False alarm causes panic in south
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 1/20/2009
Following first rocket-free day since Gaza operation, Color Red siren sounds in Gaza vicinity communities. Initial report says mortar shell fired from Strip; police later confirm alert system activated accidentally - A Color Red siren sounded in the Gaza vicinity communities Tuesday morning despite the ceasefire declared by the Palestinian organizations in the Gaza Strip. An initial report said that a mortar shell had been fired into the Sdot Negev Regional Council, but the army later said the siren was a false alarm. Many residents reported of panic following the siren. A resident of one of the kibbutzim in the area said, "When the Color Red system was activated we were quite surprised, although I can’t say we really expected a full ceasefire. People went out to work and we began a sort of routine. Post OpIDF gears for possible ceasefire violations/ Hanan. . . more.. e-mail
Two Palestinian children die in explosion of Israeli army ordnance
Palestinian Information Center 1/20/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Palestinian children were killed on Tuesday in the explosion of unexploded ordnance left over by the Israeli occupation forces in Zaitun suburb east of Gaza city, medical sources reported. They explained that the two children, who were accompanying their parents in inspecting the remains of their destroyed home, played with a "suspicious" object, which led to its explosion and their immediate death. The IOF troops fired hundreds of tons of explosive on the Gaza Strip during the past three weeks of bloody aggression on the Strip, some of them carried non-conventional warheads that remain unexploded and blast when moved. Palestinian doctors expect more such explosions to occur within the few coming days. They asked inhabitants to be absolutely cautious when dealing with any "suspicious" metal object in the ruins or vicinity of their devastated homes. more.. e-mail
Two children killed, Israeli ships open fire on fishermen
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/20/2009
Gaza - Palestinian medical sources report two children were killed on Tuesday when an explosive device from the remnants of the Israeli army detonated in eastern Gaza City. The Director General of Ambulance and Emergency at the Ministry of Health Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, said the "two children were killed while they were playing. "He said, "They were messing around with a package of remnants of the Israeli occupation, eastern Gaza City. They were transferred to the hospital. Their bodies are torn. "The children were identified as 10 year old Abdullah Hassanein and 11 year old Sharuq Hassanein. The Ministry of Health says the death toll is up to 1,414 Palestininians in the Gaza Strip since 27 December. Israeli tanks retreated from eastern Gaza City’s Shejayieh neighborhood where the children were killed, while continuing to bulldoze land in the central Strip. more.. e-mail
Gunmen fire at IDF troops in 2 incidents
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/20/2009
Force fired on near Gaza border, south of Kissufim crossing; 40 minutes later, gunmen shoot at another Israeli force in central Strip. No injuries reported. Meanwhile, army begins pulling out last forces from Strip. Reservists released, regular brigades remain in bases near Gaza, prepared for any possible scenario - An Israeli force patrolling the area near the border fence, south of the Kissufim crossing, was fired on Tuesday afternoon. The Israel Defense Forces is looking into the circumstances of the incident. About 40 minutes later, Palestinian gunmen fired at another force in the central Gaza Strip. The soldiers fired back at the shooters. There were no reports of injuries or damage in both incidents. Meanwhile, the IDF was preparing to remove its last forces from Gaza following its three-week offensive there and deploy them outside the Strip. more.. e-mail
Army claims soldiers bombed Gaza after eight shells were fired at Israel
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/20/2009
The Israeli air force shelled a target in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening and claimed that the shelled target was used earlier in the day by Palestinian fighters who allegedly fired eight homemade shells into Israel. Also, the army said that Palestinian fighters opened fire at Israeli soldiers in two separate incidents on Tuesday; no injuries were reported. The first incident took place near the Kissufim border crossing and the second in central Gaza, Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported. Furthermore, the army backtracked an earlier report in which soldiers claimed that fighters fired a shell into adjacent Israel area. Haaretz reported that the Israeli police said that "what looked like a projectile never reached Israel". The army said that the warning siren that was sounded was a false alarm. more.. e-mail
IOF gunboats shell Gaza coasts
Palestinian Information Center 1/20/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Israel occupation forces’ gunboats on Tuesday fired a number of shells at the coast of Gaza city and its northern areas while its army tanks advanced into eastern Khan Younis, to the south of the Gaza Strip. Witnesses reported that the IOF gunboats fired shells and opened heavy machinegun fire at the Gaza coasts. In Khan Younis, locals said that five IOF army tanks and two bulldozers advanced into Qarara east of Khan Younis. They said that the tractors bulldozed agriculture land in the area while the tanks fired randomly at residential neighborhoods wounding a citizen. [end]
Mortar shells strike open areas in Eshkol region; none wounded
Jerusalem Post 1/20/2009
Palestinians fired a barrage of mortar shells late Tuesday night, hitting open areas in the Eshkol region. Nobody was wounded in the latest cease-fire violation, and no damage was reported. [end]
Report: Israel sent police unit to Gaza to free captured soldier
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009
Bethlehem Maan A highly trained Israeli police unit was in the Gaza Strip for the duration of Operation Cast Lead, according to Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv. According to the report, the unit had been trained in anti-terrorism and hostage-release tactics. Members of the specialized unit were reportedly on alert for the possibility that troops might come across captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted in the summer of 2007 near Gaza. [end]
Despite threats, Hamas put up resistance
Matti Friedman, AP, The Independent 1/20/2009
Before Israel invaded the Gaza Strip, Hamas vowed to turn the territory into a "graveyard" for Israeli soldiers, and the military braced for dozens of fatalities. The results were markedly different. The Islamic militant group’s fighters put up little resistance to Israel’s crushing offensive, and the army still smarting from its stalemate with Hezbollah guerrillas in their 2006 conflict in southern Lebanon emerged relatively unscathed and more confident. Israel wrapped up its three-week offensive over the weekend, leaving behind widespread devastation and a death toll of more than 1,250 Palestinians, according to Gaza medical officials. In contrast, Israel suffered just nine combat deaths, four of them from "friendly fire. " To be sure, Hamas’ battlefield losses could be offset by other gains, depending on how postwar politics play out. more.. e-mail
Fatah affiliates say Israel destroyed Gaza City office
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009
Gaza Maan An armed group linked to Fatah said its Central Information Office in the Gaza City neighborhood of Tal Al-Hawa was destroyed during Israels assault that ended Sunday. The Martyr Yasser Arafat Group, a section of the armed Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said the office was destroyed on Tuesday, according to spokesperson Abu Seif, but confirmation of the destruction was not made until Wednesday when members could move through the streets. The office was inside Tal Al-Hawa Tower, an apartment building, Seif added. Another media coordinator for the group said that the destruction of our information office wont stop our groups from continuing to cover the news and broadcast the resistance. Abu Seif also accused Israel of committing the worst and most horrific war crimes in history. more.. e-mail
Report: Jordanian aid convoy hijacked in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009
Bethlehem Maan The Jordanian news agency Petra reported on Tuesday that armed men held up an aid convoy after it crossed into the Gaza Strip. The agency reported that armed men fired at the trucks and diverted them to private warehouses after they passed through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, an Israeli-controlled crossing used primarily for shipments of humanitarian aid. The supplies had been donated by the Hashemite Jordanian charity organization. The trucks earlier crossed into the West Bank using the Allenby Bridge and then proceed to Gaza. According to the report, the charity had coordinated in advance with UNRWA, the UNs agency for Palestinian refugees, to receive the shipment in its warehouses after it entered Gaza. more.. e-mail
Al-Mujahideen Brigades identify their dead, catalogue projectile attacks
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009
Gaza Maan The Fatah-affiliated Al-Mujahideen Brigades announced Tuesday that it lost five of its members to Israeli fire during the three week onslaught. The Brigades claimed to have fired 42 projectiles at Israeli targets and 13 mortars at Israeli tanks and troops inside Gaza. The fighters engaged in nine battles, and their Special Forces detonated several devices. The dead were identified as Ahed Abu Asy, Ahmad Al-Beetar, Zyad Al-Madhoon, Mohammad Abu Sheereh, and Mohammad Al-Banna. In their statement the Brigades confirmed their continued willingness to resist. [end]
Israel channel: Israeli fire killed an Israeli soldier captured by Al-Qassam
Palestinian Information Center 1/20/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israel’s channel 10 TV admitted Monday that Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, was able during the current war on the Gaza Strip to take an Israeli soldier prisoner, but he was killed along with his captors by Israeli fire. The channel quoted Israeli military officers as saying that Al-Qassam Brigades captured an Israeli soldier during the fighting in Gaza, but an Israeli force intervened which led to the killing of the soldier. This information agrees with Al-Qassam spokesman Abu Obeida’s statements yesterday which confirmed that the Brigades managed to capture a number of Israeli soldiers, but they were killed deliberately along with the captors by the IOF troops. The Israeli commander of the Givati military unit acknowledged the ferocity of the fighting in Gaza, pointing out that Al-Qassam Brigades turned the Strip into a "powder keg". more.. e-mail
Ten more people found in rubble, thousands in mourning
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/19/2009
Gaza - It is the second day of the "ceasefire" which has Israeli forces still inside the Gaza Strip. The year and a half siege is still in place, as is the closure. Troops line the boundaries. Israeli warplanes still fly overhead with reconnaissance aircraft circling. A warship fired a missile, but no one was injured. Rescue teams found 10 more Palestinians dead in the rubble that the Gaza Strip was degraded to. Hamas’ armed resistance wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, held a press conference this morning paying tribute to the Palestinian people for remaining steadfast during 22 days of a major Israeli operation. Thousands of people are in mourning in the Strip that by the initial estimates of the National Statistics Service will take 1. 9 billion USD to rebuild. Twenty-two thousand homes were partially or completely destroyed. more.. e-mail
Soldiers pull back - Gunboats continue to fire on Gaza shore - Factions split on truce
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2009
Gaza Maan Israeli military boats have continued to fire on Gaza shore despite the two unilaterally declared ceasefires from Israel and Gaza factions. The morning hours of Monday witnessed a number of violations on the Israeli side, including a naval gunboat aiming its weapons and firing on an area near Gaza City. No injuries were reported. Several eyewitnesses confirmed the reports. At the same time, Israeli warjets dumped thousands of fliers over the Strip warning citizens to stay away from border areas as Israel completes its withdrawal. Ground troops have withdrawn from Gaza City, opening up the main road connecting the north and central Strip, Salah Ad-Din. The coastal road has also been cleared. This has allowed displaced citizens to head back to their homes to inspect the damage. South of Gaza City, tanks have re-evacuated the abandoned Israeli settlement of Netsarim. more.. e-mail
Three civilians die of earlier wounds in Gaza, 12 more dead bodies recovered from the rubble
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/19/2009
Palestinian medical sources announced that three Palestinian civilians died on Monday due to wounds they sustained during the military offensive targeting the Gaza Strip. Doctors in Gaza City’s Al Shifa hospital said that in addition to the three killed today ambulance crews also recovered to today 12 bodies from the rubble in Gaza City. With those killed today and newly recovered bodies, the death toll of the 3-week long Israeli military operation in Gaza has reached 1,318. The Israeli military started its offensive on Saturday December 27th, 2008. The attacks started by aerial and see bombardment, one week later Israeli pushed tank and troops into the coastal region, the military operation lasted for 22 days and caused the death of 1,205 Palestinians by Saturday Jan. 17th 2009, when Israel declared it had ’achieved it’s objectives’. more.. e-mail
Bureau of Statistics initial findings: Gaza needs a year of reconstruction at 1.9 billion dollars
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/19/2009
Ramallah -- The Palestinian Bureau of Statistics issued its initial findings indicating that the Gaza Strip has become a humanitarian, economic, social and health disaster area. PBS President Louai Shaaban said today that preliminary counts of 1,305 Palestinians killed and 5, 400 wounded in 22 days will bring additional, unforeseen issues. Shaaban noted on Monday the destruction of the infrastructure of the public service sector and the destruction of buildings of public institutions, associations and private property. He said the aggression reached health institutions, educational buildings and sports facilities, along with the buildings of the UNRWA. "It has led to the total paralysis in the social and economic life. " The PBS president said that today’s report provides a quantitative overview of the losses resulting from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, with. . . more.. e-mail
Palestinian estimates: Fighting caused $1.9 billion in damage to Gaza Strip
Amira Hass, Ha’aretz 1/20/2009
The economic damage to the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s three-week offensive is estimated at $1. 9 billion, according to the Palestinian Statistical Authority in Ramallah. The estimate includes the value of destroyed structures, the anticipated cost of clearing away debris, and the damage caused to ongoing economic activity in the Strip. According to the authors of the estimate, these figures are conservative and not final. The Palestinian Authority calculations hold that Israel’s offensive resulted in damage to 14 percent of all structures and buildings in the Gaza Strip. The total number of such structures, according to data from the end of 2007, stood at 147,437. An estimated 4,100 homes were destroyed in their entirety, comprising damage that is assessed at $200 million. Partial damage was caused to approximately 17,000 other residences and buildings,. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli seriously hurt in West Bank shooting attack
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 1/20/2009
A 34-year-old resident of the West Bank settlement of Kochav Hashahar was seriously wounded on Monday evening when a gunman opened fire on his car on the highway near the settlement. Moshe Avitan, who was driving at the time, suffered wounds to his face from the shooting. His wife took the wheel and drove to the community’s security guard. Hezi Tzuriel, a paramedic stationed in the neighboring settlement of Ofra, arrived shortly and initially managed to stabilize Avitan. Tzuriel told Haaretz that at first the victim was fully alert. "Slowly his condition worsened until he lost consciousness," the paramedic said. "We identified an entry wound from a bullet in his left cheek but found no exit wound. We provided further medical care and sedated him. "Avitan was airlifted by army helicopter, with his wife at his side, to Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem. more.. e-mail
Settler seriously hurt in West Bank shooting attack near Ramallah
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 1/20/2009
A 34-year-old resident of the West Bank settlement of Kochav Hashahar was seriously wounded yesterday evening when a gunman opened fire on his car on the highway near the settlement. Moshe Avitan, who was driving at the time, suffered wounds to his face from the shooting. His wife took the wheel and drove to the community’s security guard. Hezi Tzuriel, a paramedic stationed in the neighboring settlement of Ofra, arrived shortly thereafter, and initially managed to stabilize Avitan. Tzuriel told Haaretz that at first the victim was fully alert. "Slowly his condition worsened until he lost consciousness," the paramedic said. "We identified an entry wound from a bullet in his left cheek but found no exit wound. We provided further medical care and sedated him. "Avitan was airlifted by army helicopter, with his wife at his side, to Hadassah Hospital on Mt. more.. e-mail
Israeli critically hurt in West Bank shooting
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/19/2009
Man found shot near Kochav Hashahar settlement; airlifted to nearby hospital. Incident believed to be drive-by shooting attack; security forces canvas area for perpetrators - Moshe Avitan, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Kochav Hashahar suffered a critical gunshot wound to the head Monday, in what is believed to be a drive-by shooting attack involving a Palestinian vehicle. The incident took place near Kochav Hashahar, east of Ramallah. Reports of a shooting near the settlement reached the IDF, police and Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency services around 9 pm. Avitan and his wife were apparently shot from a car speeding by them. The woman was unharmed and both were able to get to the settlement’s entrance on their own. MDA paramedics were immediately dispatched to the scene, later calling for an aerial assist. more.. e-mail
Hizbullah Palestine launches projectiles toward Israel; Hamas, Fatah and DFLP confirm commitment to truce
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2009
Gaza - Maan - While Hamas and Fatahs Al-Aqsa Brigades have reiterated their commitment to the ceasefire in the interest of Palestinian civilians, other factions including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hizbullah in Palestine continue to fire projectiles into Israel. Hizbullah Palestine sent a statement Monday claiming to have launched two Radwan projectiles into Israel. This is part of what the fighters call their Flame of Gaza operation. They noted that they have shot five projectiles into Israel since the first unilateral ceasefire was called on Sunday morning. Both Hizbullah Palestine and the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades (the armed wing of the PFLP) maintain their right to resistance. For their part, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated with Fatah, and the Ayman Juda Brigades both confirmed their commitment to the ceasefire and the. . . more.. e-mail
It’s back to school today in the south
Or Kashti, Ha’aretz 1/20/2009
The educational system in most of the south will return to a normal schedule today. About 320,000 children from kindergarten through high school will be back in school after almost a month away from the classroom, following a decision by the Education Ministry. The school day will open with a discussion about the recent hostilities in the south. In Ashkelon, only students from 10th to 12th grade will be back in school today, with a decision to follow later on a date for a full return to a normal schedule. The regular school staff in the south will be supplemented by additional psychology service personnel. All of the students from grades 1 through 12 will be provided with special programming designed to help them deal with traumas of the recent weeks, and to prepare them to return to their school routine. more.. e-mail
Givati commander defends Gaza actions
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 1/20/2009
The Israel Defense Forces did not use excessive force in the fighting in Gaza, the commander of the Givati infantry brigade, whose soldiers fought there over the past two weeks, said. "I will not send 10 soldiers into a house suspected of being booby-trapped in order for them to blow up, before I have created the conditions that will guarantee their safety," Colonel Ilan Malka said. "In the Warm Winter operation in March 2008 in Jabalya, I lost two soldiers who were shot by armed men who came out of one of the houses. This time we understood that in the face of the enemy’s preparations we needed to create proper conditions for bringing in the forces, and that is what we did. "Malka, speaking at a press conference at an IDF base in the Negev after his soldiers pulled out of the Gaza Strip, described the brigade’s attack in the Tel el-Hawa neighborhood in the southern section of the city of Gaza last Thursday. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 011909
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/19/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 4 m 00s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Monday, January 19th 2009. As more Palestinians die due to the latest Israeli offensive on Gaza, Israeli troops continue to attack West Bank areas, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian medical sources announced that three Palestinian civilians have died on Monday due to the wounds they sustained during the military offensive targeting the Gaza Strip. Doctors in Gaza City Al Shifa hospital reported that in addition to the three killed today; ambulance crews also recovered 12 bodies from the rubble in Gaza City. With those killed today and newly recovered bodies, the death toll of the Israeli military operation in Gaza has reached 1,318. more.. e-mail
IDF gears for possible ceasefire violations
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/20/2009
Military said to be devising several response scenarios meant to meet any breach of fragile truce. Price tag for any attack will increase exponentially, says IDF source -The IDF has began formulating response scenarios to any ceasefire violations on Hamas’ part, a senior security source told Ynet Monday night. The military has also begun looking into several of the operational errors and friendly fire incidents which took place during Operation Cast Lead, as well as its heroic tales. "We will see quite a few commendations," said the source. The defense establishment believes that Hamas will concentrate its resources on rebuilding its infrastructure, as well as in avenues pertaining to the Palestinian population. The organization is also expected to halt its terror attacks against more.. e-mail
Al-Qassam Brigades announce 48 fighters dead; continue projectile manufacturing
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2009
Gaza Maan Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades continue to develop projectile capacity and insist they have not been weakened by the three-week Israeli onslaught. Speaking at a press conference about the state of the Brigades, Al-Qassam spokesman Abu Ubayda announced the last three weeks in Gaza as a victory for the resistance. Israels goals, like the fall of Hamas and the halt of projectile fire, were not achieved, Abu Ubayda said. He called on Israelis who applauded the war to question their leaders and ask if their unrealized goals were worth the death of hundreds of women and children and the destruction of homes, schools and mosques. Also among the dead, he confirmed, were 48 Al-Qassam fighters, and 49 Israeli soldiers. Most of the fighters were killed during two capturing operations, one on the third day of the ground invasion Mahmoud Ar-Rify was killed as fighters attempted to capture Israeli soldiers. more.. e-mail
Al-Qassam: We carried out dozens of painful strikes against the IOF troops
Palestinian Information Center 1/19/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, stated during a press conference on Monday that it managed to carry out dozens of painful strikes against the IOF troops during 22 days of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, asserting that its fighters were able to kill 49 Israeli soldiers. Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Al-Qassam Brigades, told the press conference which was held in Gaza city that the Brigades accurately monitored the operations of killing 49 Israeli soldiers in a direct way, not to mention dozens of Israeli casualties whose death was not eyewitnessed by Al-Qassam fighters during many resistance attacks such as the soldiers killed during the operations of detonating tanks and armored troop carriers. Accordingly, Al-Qassam Brigades conservatively estimated the death toll in the ranks of IOF troops as up to 80 soldiers, Abu Obeida added. more.. e-mail
Al-Aqsa Brigades: One Israeli soldier dead, dozens injured by fighters in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2009
Gaza- Maan During the 23 day onslaught in Gaza, Fatahs armed wing the Al-Aqsa Brigades announced that it fired dozens of projectiles onIsraeli targets and engaged in clashes with Israeli troops in Gaza. According to the Brigades, three fighters were killed and sixteen others injured in airstrikes and clashes. Of those injured three are said to be in critical condition. According to the Brigades, projectiles were launched as follows: Ashkelon, 16 (+1 Grad) / Sderot, 22 / Western Negev 19 / Kissufim, 15 mortars / Al-Bureij military post 13 mortars / The Brigades statement said fighters escaped death after being attacked by an Israeli missile during a military operation. They claimed to have been heavily involved with the Tel Al-Hawa battles, where one Al-Aqsa fighter was killed and several others injured. more.. e-mail
Death toll rises as people are unearthed
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/18/2009
Gaza - Director of Ambulance and Emergency in the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Dr. Muawiyah Hassanain, reports 100 bodies found in the rubble of the Gaza Strip throughout the day. Twenty-five people were found amongst the destruction of Jabaliya, just north of Gaza City. Dr. Hassanein said that due to the state of the decomposition and destruction of the bodies, many are being identified and buried on the scene. Four bodies were found by a rescue crew in the northern Strip’s Beit Lahiya. The death toll continues to rise with the unearthing of more people and due to the killing earlier today of farmer Abed Abu Rajliah in Khan Younis. Israeli forces remain on the ground but are not firing on rescue and medical crews. The number of Palestinians killed in 22 days of the major Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip is approximately 1,300 with 5,450 injured. more.. e-mail
Clashes follow Israeli ’cessation’
Al Jazeera 1/18/2009
The Israeli military has continued its operation in the Gaza Strip, killing one civilian in Khan Younis and carrying out air raids in the north. The attacks came just hours after the country’s prime minister declared an end to hostilities. Ehud Olmert had said late on Saturday that Israel had "achieved its military objectives" to end the launching of rockets into Israel and disable the Hamas faction which rules the Gaza Strip. But by Sunday morning, 10 rockets had been fired into Israel, and Palestinian fighters were engaged in an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers in Jabaliya. Israel carried out aerial sorties, claiming to have hit rocket-launching sites. One Palestinian civilian died near Khan Younis after being hit by mortar fire. Recovery teams are working to pull bodies out of the rubble in areas that have so far been too dangerous to enter. They have retrieved the bodies of at least 25 people, including children, and the number is expected to rise steeply. more.. e-mail
IDF chief: Operation’s objectives met in full
Ynet, YNetNews 1/18/2009
Lt. -Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi sends epistle to fighting forces, commends their actions during Operation Cast Lead, says Hamas suffered massive blow, security realities in southern Israel changed - IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi said Sunday that "Operation Cast Lead’s objectives have been met in full. ""The IDF will hold its fire after 22 days of fighting, following the government’s decision," wrote Ashkenazi in his order of the day, distributed to all IDF forces. "The objectives set for the operation have been achieved in full. Hamas infrastructure and alignment have been dealt a severe blow, and we have created the conditions to fundamentally change the security realities in southern Israel. "The IDF is realigning its forces to monitor any new development and to maximize its achievements. "Nevertheless, stressed Ashkenazi, the operation has not come to its end: "The more.. e-mail
IDF ponders response to rocket fire
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/18/2009
Military holds responding to post-truce rocket fire, said to allow several hours for orders to trickle down form Hamas leadership to field operatives. Reserve forces redeploy around Strip - The defense establishment said Sunday night that it believed Hamas and the other armed groups in the Gaza Strip intend to uphold the ceasefire, prompting the IDF to allow for a short grace period several hours for the ceasefire orders to trickle down form Hamas’ leadership to the organization’s field operatives. Once the grace period elapses, any rocket fire will meet a severe response, said a security source. Sunday morning’s fire on the western Negev, added the source, was probably prompted by Hamas’ leadership in Gaza as a show of force; but some was probably initiated by individual operatives seeking vengeance. This assumption was the reason why the IDF’s response to the fire was limited. more.. e-mail
Ashdod woman hurt by Gaza rocket as Hamas declares truce
Haaretz Service and the Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/19/2009
A rocket fired by Palestinian militants lightly wounded a woman in Ashdod on Sunday, as Hamas announced a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. The rocket directly struck a building in the southern town. A total of 20 rockets exploded in southern Israel on Sunday, despite Israel’s declaration of a unilateral cease-fire in the coastal territory on Saturday night and Hamas’ subsequent announcement that it too was adhering to a truce. Three people were lightly wounded over the course of the day. One rocket was fired into Ashkelon at noon, and earlier Sunday two rockets hit a chicken coop in Shapir Regional Council causing severe damage. The rest of the rockets hit open areas near the southern Israeli town of Sderot, causing no casualties. Following the salvoes fired into the South, Israel Air Force aircraft attacked rocket launchers in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said. more.. e-mail
Report: Palestinians find 95 bodies in rubble of battle-torn Gaza
Amos Harel , Haaretz Service and Agencies, Ha’aretz 1/19/2009
The Israel Defense Forces killed a Palestinian in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, medical workers said, the first reported fatality on either side since a unilateral cease-fire declared by Israel went into effect at 2 A. M. local time. The Palestinian was slain in an area where militants had fired mortar bombs in defiance of a unilateral Israeli cease-fire, according to the medical workers. They reported that he was killed near the Gaza town of Khan Yunis, and identified the man as a civilian. In another incident after the truce went into effect, militants fired small arms at an infantry patrol in the northern Gaza Strip. The troops returned fire and hit the group of gunmen, the army said, also directing artillery and aircraft to strike back. None of the soldiers were wounded in the gunfight. An IDF spokesman said that the troops opened fire according to the rules of engagement, and vowed that any assault on soldiers in Gaza would meet with a harsh response. more.. e-mail
CEASEFIRE: One dead by Israeli fire - Medics uncover reeking bodies - At least 1,246 killed in total - Clashes reported
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2009
Gaza Maan A Gazan farmer is dead and his son injured by Israeli fire less than ten hours after Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in the Gaza Strip Sunday morning, medical sources confirmed. The farmer was identified as 24-year-old Abd As-Samad Abu Rejlieh, who was shot as he went out to his lands to inspect the damage from the 22-day Israeli incursion. Israeli fire also hit a mother and her daughter in their home in the northern Strip town of Beit Hanoun, both were injured. Since the ceasefire went into effect at 2am Sunday morning, one is dead and several injured. Medical crews continue to dig bodies out of Gaza rubble. Israeli reconnaissance planes buzzed overhead throughout the night Sunday, and explosions were heard in several parts of the Strip. Israeli shells fell on a group of Rafah residents in the south, and phosphorus bombs landed in the At-Tuffah neighborhood of eastern Gaza City. more.. e-mail
Leaving Gaza, soldiers feel their job is not done, since Gilad Shalit still not free
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 1/19/2009
By yesterday afternoon, many of the Israel Defense Forces soldiers who fought in the Gaza Strip had already left. The IDF bases and training sites in the Negev were full of conscripted soldiers and reservists recovering from two weeks of combat. Some soldiers’ parents were quick enough to see their children, whom they hadn’t been able to speak to for several days. Many soldiers said they were content with the way the army functioned during Operation Cast Lead, especially compared to the Second Lebanon War - including the massive force used, even though it resulted in many Palestinian civilian deaths. But they also complained that there was some confusion about ending the fighting and expressed frustration over the lack of a deal that would have freed captive soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Palestinian militants on the Gaza border in June 2006. more.. e-mail
Israel begins pulling troops from Gaza; soldiers say ’could have done more’
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/18/2009
Infantrymen leaving Gaza pursuant to Saturday’s cabinet decision think cessation of operation too hasty, say IDF could have and should have crushed Hamas will to shoot rockets at Israel - Cleared for publication: The IDF began pulling some of its troops out of the Gaza Strip Sunday, following Israel’s decision on a unilateral ceasefire. The troops redeployed to areas near the security fence. Among many soldiers in the field, many of whom have been pulled out in the past several hours, Israel’s declared truce appears to constitute a missed opportunity to crush Hamas’ will to fire at Israeli civilians. Some reservists reported, though, that Hamas appeared weak. " We could have done a lot more. There’s a feeling the operation ended too early," one soldier told Ynet. He and his colleagues are staying alert in an attempt to block ceasefire violations - rocket fire - by Hamas or other Palestinian organizations. more.. e-mail
2 hurt as rocket hits Ashdod house
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/18/2009
Despite ceasefire declared by Israel, Sunday sees Palestinian gunmen fire at least 15 rockets, three mortar shells from Gaza. Rockets land in Sderot, Kiryat Gat, Ashkelon, Ashdod and western Negev kibbutzim. Man moderately injured, Woman lightly wounded by shrapnel, several people suffers shock, building damaged. One rocket hits henhouse, killing dozens of chickens - Rocket fire continues despite ceasefire: Palestinian gunmen fired at least 15 rockets and three mortar shells into Israel on Sunday. The Israel Air Force attacked and hit the rocket launchers. Shortly after 2 pm, a rocket hit the yard of a house in Ashdod. A man was moderately injured and a woman was lightly wounded in the hand by shrapnel. An air raid siren did not sound before the rocket landed. Nofar, who lives on the Ashdod street hit by the rocket, told Ynet, "The rocket landed between two houses and caused heavy damage. more.. e-mail
51 soldiers and 14 civilians still hospitalized due to Gaza war
Judy Siegel-itzkovich, Jerusalem Post 1/18/2009
While a cease-fire was ostensibly in effect on Sunday, for seriously wounded soldiers and civilians, the struggle to survive and be well continued. With the relative quiet and fortunate lack of wounded after the cease-fire was unilaterally declared by Israel, only one victim of Gazan fire was taken to the hospital, a woman who suffered light shrapnel wounds to her hand when a Grad rocket hit her garden in Ashdod. Of the 51 soldiers and 14 civilians still hospitalized on Sunday, most were in good or moderate condition and improving. But a small number remain in very serious condition. A total of 13 soldiers are in moderate condition and about 30 in good condition. Sec. -Lt. Aharon Karov, a reserve paratrooper officer from Karnei Shomron who suffered serious head wounds a week after he got married, remains in very serious condition at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva. more.. e-mail
IOF soldiers kill Palestinian despite their declared ceasefire
Palestinian Information Center 1/18/2009
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- A Palestinian civilian was killed and others were wounded when Israeli occupation forces fired at them east of Khuza’a town in Khan Younis district, south of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday. Medical sources said that Maher Abu Rjeila, 23, was hit with multiple gunshots at the hands of IOF tanks entrenched east of Khuza’a. Citizens hearing of the Israeli ceasefire rushed to inspect their homes and agricultural lands. Israeli premier Ehud Olmert had announced a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza as of early Sunday. Locals reported that IOF soldiers re-positioned their troops after the ceasefire announcement and withdrew from certain areas. They said that hundreds of houses were flattened by the invading IOF troops especially along the Rafah border strip with Egypt. Palestinian medical teams had recovered tens of bodies in areas where those teams could not reach before due to the IOF ceaseless pounding in the past three weeks. more.. e-mail
Clashes erupt in northern Gaza; Brigades reported to fire on Israeli troops stationed near Jabaliya
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2009
Bethlehem - Maan - Palestinian factions clashed with Israeli troops still stationed in Gaza Sunday morning, after Israel called a unilateral ceasefire to start at 2am the same day. Even before the ceasefire was called, Gaza factions made it clear that a stop to the violence without the total withdrawal of Israeli troops and the opening of Gaza borders would be unacceptable, and fighting would continue. Israeli troops have remained stationed around Gaza City, though they have pulled back from residential areas. They are stationed in the southern Strip between Rafah and Khan Younis, and continue to divide the Strip by forming a physical and military road block between the northern and central sectors at the former Israeli settlement of Netsarim. Militants clashed with troops in the northern Strip near Jabaliya, and others fired several projectiles and Grads into Israel. more.. e-mail
Al-Quds Brigades: 18 soldiers killed in 22 days
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2009
Gaza Maan Islamic Jihads Al-Quds Brigades lost 34 fighters during the Israeli onslaught in Gaza and launched 262 projectiles at Israeli targets, according to their spokesperson on Sunday. Of the more than 1,300 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, 34 Al-Quds Brigades fighters and leaders were killed. A statement said those who died were prepared to engage in fierce battles with Israeli troops. Of the projectiles launched, said the spokesperson, 158 were at Ashkelon, Sderot, Kfar Azza, Nahal Oz, Nir Oz, Beeri, Nirim, Miftahim and Eshkol. They claimed to have injured 16 Israeli settlers in the attacks and caused structural damage to homes and public properties. The Brigades said they fired 77 mortars at Megan, Kissufim and gatherings of armored vehicles in the north-central and southeast areas of Gaza, injuring a number of Israeli soldiers. more.. e-mail
Fight not over for dozens of injured
Meital Yasur-Beit Or, YNetNews 1/18/2009
In Israel, 51 soldiers, 13 civilians still hospitalized in various medical centers, several of them in serious condition - Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza Saturday night, but the struggle has not yet ended for dozens of injured soldiers and civilians hospitalized in Israel. As of Sunday morning, 51 soldiers and 13 civilians were still on file as patients at the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba, Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva and Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. Among the 13 wounded civilians is seven-year-old Orel Elazarov of Beersheba, who has been in serious condition since he was injured by shrapnel from a Grad rocket. Two residents of Ashdod are also considered severely wounded, three weeks after they were hit by rocket. . . more.. e-mail
Military factions continue to launch projectiles at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2009
Gaza - Maan - Palestinian military factions continued to launch projectiles at Israeli targets Sunday, and Israeli troops responded to fire in the Strip despite the unilateral Israeli announcement of a ceasefire in the area. The Hizbullah Brigades in Palestine said they launched three projectiles towards Sderot and the western Negev. They are calling their projectile blitz the Blaze of Gaza, said a statement from the group Sunday. [end]
'Hezbollah Bridges' fire two projectiles on Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2009
Gaza Maan The apparently new armed group calling itself the "Hezbollah Brigades" launched two projectiles toward Sderot on Sunday evening, according to a statement. Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for five projectiles launched at an unspecified Israeli target in the south, insisting the attacks were designed to "affirm continued resistance. " [end]
Ongoing attacks on hospitals and medical equipment in Gaza
Palestine News Network 1/17/2009
Polly Basak for PNN -- Three hospitals were attacked on the same day in the Gaza Strip where Israeli forces disregard the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits targeting medical facilities, ambulances and personnel. Since the major attacks began on 27 December, Israeli forces have hit 16 medical facilities and even more ambulances and medics. On 15 January he Al Quds Palestinian Red Crescent Society Hospital in the Tel Al Hawa neighbourhood, the Al Wafa Hospital in eastern Gaza City (the only rehabilitation hospital in the Gaza Strip) and the Al Fata Hospital in western Gaza City came under fire and were all damaged in the bombardment. In addition a Palestine Red Crescent warehouse was also shelled, destroying all medical and relief items stored in the vicinity. In both the Al Wafa Hospital and Al Fata Hospital the windows were smashed, walls were damaged and three hospital ambulances were destroyed in the blast. more.. e-mail
22nd day under attack: Israel shells UN school, death toll in Gaza 1,200
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/17/2009
As the Israeli military operation entered its 22nd day on Saturday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the death toll have reached by midday today to 1,200. The ministry added that the number of those injured have exceeded 5,300 including 400 in critical conditions. During night shelling targeting Gaza, local sources said that 11 people were killed, jet fighters and tanks fired shells at residential areas in Gaza City, Beit Lahia and Rafah. Meanwhile on Saturday morning six people, including a women and two of her children, where killed when Israeli war planes fire several missiles at a school in Beit Lahia. . . . Medics and Doctors in Gaza said that the school was attacked with missiles believed to contain white phosphorus and dense metals. . . Israel[’s]. . . troops have attacked the UN centers and schools at least four times. . . more.. e-mail
Soldiers attack, beat a Palestinian man near Bethlehem
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/17/2009
The Maan News Agency reported on Saturday that Israeli soldiers attacked, kicked, punched and dragged a Palestinian youth from Tiqua’ village, southeast of Bethlehem, after kidnapping him from his home. Majid Al Sha’er, 28, was moved by the residents to the main governmental hospital in Bethlehem, and is currently receiving treatment for concussions and bruises. His condition was described as moderate. He was standing in front of his home when the soldiers initiated the assault, then they abducted him and took him to a road near the village where they continued to kick and punch him before leaving him soaked in his own blood. Medical sources at the Beit Jala Government Hospital, said that Al Sha’er suffered fractures and concussions in his head, arms and several parts of his body. more.. e-mail
Israel to annex lands from Bethlehem villages in order to expannd Gush Azion settlement Bloc
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 1/17/2009
The Israeli army decided to annex lands from the Palestinian villages of Husan and Nahhalin, near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, in order to expand the illegal Gush Azion settlement bloc. The decision, sighed by Noam Tibon, the general Israeli military commander in the occupied West Bank, states that Israel will annex more than 24 Dunams of Palestinian lands in Husan and Nahhalin. Khalid Al Azza, head of the Popular Committee for Defending Lands and Countering Occupation and the Annexation Wall in Bethlehem, said that the army isued two orders signed by Tibon and addressed to the owners of the lands. The first order T/28/08 states that the army intends to annex 10 Dunams and 200 square/meters from Nahhalin village, while the second order T/09/03, states that the army intends to annex 13 Dunams and 400 square/meters from the nearby Husan town. more.. e-mail
Israeli ’Phosphorous Shells’ Incinerate 1,000s of Tons of UN Food as Gaza Starves
Ibrahim Barzak and Ben Lynfield, MIFTAH 1/17/2009
ISRAELI shells set ablaze a food warehouse at UN headquarters in Gaza yesterday, destroying tons of emergency rations intended for needy Gaza civilians, a senior UN official said. A pall of black smoke rose from the UN compound, visible across Gaza City. Flour spilled on the ground and mixed with soot as Palestinian firefighters tried to douse the flames. " The main warehouse was badly damaged by what appeared to be white phosphorus shells," UN humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes said at a news briefing in New York. " Those on the ground don’t have any doubt that’s what they were. If you were looking for confirmation, that looks like it to me. "The compound belongs to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unwra). The rights group Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using white phosphorus, which can create smoke screens or mark targets but also makes a devastating incendiary weapon. more.. e-mail
1000 tons of explosives and white phosphorus dropped on Gaza in 22 days
Palestinian Information Center 1/17/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli 10th TV channel has disclosed that the Israeli occupation forces had used half of the air force and launched at least 2500 air raids over the past three weeks of attacks on Gaza Strip. The TV military correspondent said on Saturday that the Israeli warplanes had dropped more than a thousand tons of explosives in that period. He reported that the shells fired by artillery, tanks, infantry and gunboats were not included in those fired by the air force. The intensive Israeli air, sea and land shelling had targeted civilian neighborhoods, mosques and security buildings other than UNRWA offices and warehouses and killed 1200 citizens so far other than 5400 wounded. more.. e-mail
United Nations under attack, deaths throughout the Strip
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/17/2009
Gaza - Continuing the brutal attack on the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces again targeted a UNRWA school. The death toll rose to 1,203 Palestinians killed on the twenty-second day. The number of injured is at approximately 5,300. Palestinian medical sources reported on Saturday morning that at least five people, including a woman and a child, were killed in the attack on the school. Four others were also wounded in the Israeli shelling of yet another United Nations Relief and Works Agency school. Medical reports indicate they used white phosphorus incendiary bombs. The school in the northern Gaza Strip’s Beit Lahia is one of several UN buildings that Israeli forces have targeted, despite promises that to cease. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, is demanding an end while the General Assembly passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. more.. e-mail
Israel again pummels Gaza Strip
Middle East Online 1/17/2009
GAZA CITY - Israel pummelled Gaza with new strikes on Saturday, as it says that is poised to unilaterally halt its 22-day-old war on Gaza. A Palestinian woman and a child were killed in an Israeli strike on a UN-run school in the northern town of Beit Lahiya where civilians had taken refuge from fierce clashes between Israeli ground troops and Palestinian fighters, medics said. "This yet again illustrates the tragedy that there is no safe place in Gaza. Not even a UN installation is safe," Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said. "There is no place to flee," he said. Elsewhere in the territory, a two-year-old baby and three other Palestinians were killed as Israel hammered Gaza with some 50 raids, medics and the Israeli army said. The raids came ahead of a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet later on Saturday that. . . more.. e-mail
13 Palestinians killed; 13 soldiers hurt in Gaza
Amos Harel and Anshel Pfeffer, Ha’aretz 1/18/2009
Thirteen Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded, three seriously, in fighting in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. Thirteen Palestinians were killed yesterday in the course of IDF operations in the Strip, bringing the death toll there to 1,205. Six soldiers from the Givati Brigade were wounded yesterday when they were hit by an anti-tank missile fired by militants in the Gaza Strip. One of the soldiers was seriously wounded, two moderately hurt and three lightly wounded in the incident. The missile was launched at the troops while navigating the ruins of the former settlement Netzarim, south of Gaza City. Also yesterday, two IDF officers and two enlisted men were wounded from so-called friendly fire in the northern Gaza Strip. The wounded, all of whom were from the Paratrooper Brigade, received medical treatment at the scene, before they were evacuated by helicopter to hospitals in the south of Israel. more.. e-mail
Nine IDF troops wounded, four seriously, in Gaza fighting
Amos Harel Anshel Pfeffer, and News Agencies, Ha’aretz 1/18/2009
Five soldiers from the Givati infantry brigade were wounded on Saturday when they were hit by an anti-tank missile fired by militants in the Gaza Strip. One of the soldiers was seriously wounded, two were moderately hurt, and three lightly wounded in the incident. Also on Saturday, two Israel Defense Forces officers and two IDF enlisted men were seriously wounded during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip. The wounded, all of whom were from the Paratroopers’ Brigade, received medical treatment at the scene, before they were evacuated by helicopter to hospitals in the South of Israel. The IDF is currently checking the circumstances the incident, and weighing the possibility that it was another case of friendly fire. If the four wounded troops were in fact hit by friendly fire, it would represent the fourth such incident since Operation Cast Lead began on December 27. more.. e-mail
Four Israeli soldiers wounded as Palestinian fighters engage invading forces
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2009
Gaza Maan/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. . . more.. e-mail
9 soldiers hurt in Gaza
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/17/2009
Anti-tank rocket fired at troops, hurting five; earlier, four soldiers wounded near Gaza City - Cleared for publication:An IDF soldier sustained serious wounds, another was moderately hurt, and three more troops sustained light injuries in Gaza after an anti-tank rocket was fired at them. The five Givati Brigade soldiers were treated at the scene and later taken to hospitals in Israel. Earlier Saturday, two soldiers and two officers from the Paratroopers Brigade were seriously injuredin exchanges of fire with Palestinian gunmen on the outskirts of Gaza City. The four were hurt by mortar shells fired at them during a patrol of the area. The incident is being investigated by the Israel Defense Forces. Military officials said the circumstancesthe forces were likely hurt in a "friendly-fire incident". more.. e-mail
Medics recover two bodies near Khan Younis
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2009
Gaza Maan 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 Muawiya 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. more.. e-mail
Palestinians in Gaza fire Grad rocket at Beersheba; no casualties
Jerusalem Post 1/17/2009
Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip continued to fire rockets at Israel late Saturday night, despite a cabinet decision to observe a unilateral cease-fire. A Grad-type rocket landed in an open area of Beersheba, causing no casualties or damage. The Israeli cease-fire will being at 2 a. m. Sunday. [end]
Grad rockets fired at Ashdod cause power outages; no casualties reported
Jerusalem Post 1/17/2009
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired two Grad-type rockets at Israel on Saturday night. The rockets caused power outages in the south of the city. No casualties were reported in the attacks. [end]
Grad nearly strikes worshipers at synagogue
Yanir Yagna, Ha’aretz 1/18/2009
Dozens of worshipers in a community near the city of Ofakim narrowly escaped injury yesterday when a Grad rocket hit a study hall adjacent to the synagogue where they were praying. "We were in the middle of the shacharit morning prayer service and the rabbi just said the word vishmarech ["you shall be guarded" in Hebrew) when we heard a loud bang," recounted Nissim Almog, one of the worshipers who witnessed the attack. "The Grad hit the study hall next to the synagogue - it was a miracle. Even the windows shattered outward and my mother who was in the women’s section was not hurt. " The Grad was one of 15 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel by Palestinian militants yesterday, as the Israel Defense Forces’ operation in the coastal territory entered its 21st day. No one was wounded in the attacks but damage was caused to property. more.. e-mail
Rocket barrages follow Gaza ceasefire announcement
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/18/2009
Six Grads fired at south Israel as Barak briefs reporters on unilateral truce in Strip; no injuries reported -Palestinian gunmen in Gaza fired six Grad rockets toward south Israel late Saturday night just as Defense Minister Ehud Barak was briefing reporters on Israel’s decision tosuspend its offensive in the Hamas-controlled territory. No injuries or damage were reported. At least 25 rockets were fired toward Israel since Saturday morning. Prior to the cabinet’s announcement on a unilateral ceasefire, two rockets were fired at Ashdod. One landed near a structure in the city, and medical teams treated a number of people for shock. The second rocket landed damaged a few vehicles and apparently an electrical pole, as the entire area was plunged into darkness. A short while later a mortar shell landed in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council area, causing no injuries or damage. more.. e-mail
Attacks continue; rocket lands near Ashdod home
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/17/2009
Medics treat several anxiety victims after rocket hits southern city; south under fire throughout Saturday - As Israel prepares to declare a unilateral ceasefire, two rockets were fired at the southern city of Ashdod Saturday night. One rocket landed in a residential area in the city, damaging some vehicles in the area, including a bus. Magen David Adom medics treated several anxiety victims at the scene. Earlier Saturday, two rockets exploded in open spaces in the Beersheba area - no injuries or damages were reported in the attack. The rockets were fired during the daily "humanitarian pause" declared by the IDF. The army announced that it will hold the pause between 12 to 3 pm. During that time, the IDF opened the Kerem Shalom Crossing in order to allow dozens of trucks carrying food, medical supplies, and fuel into Gaza. more.. e-mail
2 suffer ’shock’ following rocket barrage
Yael Branovsky, YNetNews 1/17/2009
Air raid sirens sound throughout southern Israel on Saturday as 10 rockets fired from Gaza Strip. Two people treated for shock after rocket hits empty building near synagogue in Netivot area - Palestinian gunmen fired 10 rockets and four mortar shells into Israel on Saturday morning. One of the rockets hit an empty building near a synagogue. Magen David Adom emergency teams treated two people for shock. The rest of the rockets exploded in open areas without causing injuries or damage. Two rockets exploded in open areas near the city Beersheba on Saturday afternoon, and another rocket landed at the same time in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council. The rockets were fired during the "humanitarian pause" in Gaza declared by the Israeli army. A Qassam rocket landed in an open area in the Sdot Negev Regional Council at around 9 am. -- See also: Israel's Gaza myths more.. e-mail
Palestinian resistance repels IOF troops in Tel Al-Islam
Palestinian Information Center 1/16/2009
Gaza, (PIC)-- Fighters of the Palestinian resistance factions led by the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas Movement, have succeeded Friday in pushing the invading IOF troops out of Tel A-Islam suburb, west of Gaza city, after fierce clashes in the area. According to sources in the Palestinian resistance, the Palestinian fighters destroyed a number of Israeli armored vehicles despite the intensive Israeli air, land, and sea strikes on the populated suburb. The headquarters of the UNRWA in Gaza Strip and a local hospital where around 500 people, including hundreds of patients, were inside were bombed by the Israeli warplanes alleging they were used by the Palestinian fighters to shoot at the IOF troops. The UNRWA and the hospital shrugged off the allegations and accused Israel of fabricating them. Local sources confirmed to the PIC correspondent that the IOF troops were. . . more.. e-mail
Palestinian sources: Teenager among four killed by IAF in Gaza
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 1/17/2009
The Israel Air Force attacked about 40 targets across the Gaza Strip on Friday, on Day 21 of Israel’s offensive on the Hamas-ruled coastal territory. Palestinian sources said a 14-year-old was killed and several other people were wounded during an IAF attack on the Shabura refugee camp in southern Gaza. Three militants were also killed in IAF attacks, medics said. The strikes came a day after the IAF killed Hamas Interior Minister Said Sayyam at the Gaza house where he was hiding. An official military statement said that the targets bombed Friday included smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border, a rocket launcher ready for firing and a mosque that housed a tunnel entrance and was also used to store arms. The Israel Defense Forces also said that troops pinpointed a group of militants that had fired a mortar shell at Israel, and identified a hit. more.. e-mail
14 Palestinians killed on Friday at night, 1167 killed, 5200 wounded in ongoing offensive
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/16/2009
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Friday at night that 14 Palestinians were killed, 10 of them after the army shelled a mourning house east of Gaza City, as the Israeli air strikes and shelling in the continued in the Gaza Strip. A mother and her five children were also killed in the central Gaza Strip. The sources stated that ten residents were killed and several others were injured when the army shelled a mourning house in Al Shujaeyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City. Four more Palestinians were killed, several others were injured, when the army shelled the house of Dr. Abu Al Eish, in Jabalia. A third shelling to a house in Al Saftawi neighborhood, north of Gaza, caused several casualties. Also, medical sources reported that a mother and her five children were killed after Israeli missiles hit their home in Al Boreij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
1170 Palestinians, including 375 children killed by IOF in 3 weeks
Palestinian Information Center 1/16/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- The IOF has intensified its ethnic cleansing efforts on Friday in the Gaza Strip committing three massacres in various parts of the Gaza Strip. A mourning reception at the Shejaeyya neighbourhood where the family of one of the martyrs was receiving people offering condolences was shelled by the IOF resulting in the death of 10 people and tens others were wounded. Five people, including for women, were also killed in an airstrike that targeted a house belonging to Abul-Eish family in Jablaya. Many others were wounded. Another house in the Safawi neighbourhood was also bombed, the number of casualties was not known at the time of writing this report. Earlier a mother and her five children was killed by the IOF. Medical sources say that the number of those killed during the three week Israeli blitz has reached 1170, including 375 children, 110 women and 100 elderly people. more.. e-mail
Death toll in Gaza jumps to 1143 after Tel Al-Islam massacre
Palestinian Information Center 1/16/2009
Gaza, (PIC)-- Death toll in Gaza Strip has risen to 1143 martyrs, nearly one-half of them were children, women, and elderly people in addition 15 paramedics, four journalists, and three foreigners, hospital sources revealed. Around 23 Palestinian bodies were recovered from under the rubbles of their homes in Tel Al-Islam suburb after the IOF troops indiscriminately bombed residential condominiums in the suburb. According to the sources, the Israeli genocidal aggression has also left more than 5200 Palestinians wounded, hundreds of them in very serious condition, as the Israeli brutal attack on Gaza entered its fourth week. On Friday, Palestinian child Esa Ermeelat, 14, was killed after Israeli warplanes targeted his home at Al-Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah city, south of Gaza Strip. Eight other Palestinian civilians were also injured in an Israeli raid in Sofa area, southeast of the Strip. more.. e-mail
70 Palestinians killed on Thursday, death toll in Gaza exceeds 1,100 after 20 days
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/16/2009
As the Israeli offensive continued against the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Israeli soldiers killed 70 Palestinians in different areas of Gaza. Since Israel launched its offensive on Gazatwenty days ago, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,100 wounded. At least 400 of the wounded are in serious conditions. . Thursday’s shelling was no different from earlier attacks, targeting homes, UN facilities, hospitals and several other residential areas. In Tal al-Hawa , in Gaza City, the Israeli Army shelled and burned the al-Quds Hospital, which belongs to the Palestinian Red Crescent, along with several branches connected to the hospital. The Israelis also shelled Tal al-Hawa Hospital, which was crowded with at least 500 wounded Palestinians and medics. Dr. Bashar Murad, head of the Emergency Unit at the Hospital, said that the Israeli Army fired at least three shells,. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli tanks withdraw from Tel Al-Hawa after killing 23
Ma’an News Agency 1/16/2009
Gaza Ma’an Israeli tanks withdrew on Friday from the Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City after 24 hours of constant shelling, leaving behind the corpses of Palestinian civilians and fighters. The tanks have retreated south to the ruins of the Israeli settlement Niztarim, which has been their base of operations since the ground invasion began nearly two weeks ago. The incursion into Tel Al-Hawa was the farthest Israeli forces have entered into Gaza City since the beginning of the offensive. While in Tel Al-Hawa, Israeli forces attacked a Red Crescent hospital, setting it on fire. Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers seized a number of residents, abducting them as they left the area. Witnesses also reported that Israeli soldiers invaded residential buildings, ordering locals to leave. Hundreds fled to other parts of the city. more.. e-mail
After attacks on Tal Al Hawa yesterday, 23 people found in the rubble
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/16/2009
Gaza - When Israeli forces moved on from yesterday’s major attack on southern Gaza City’s Tal Al Hawa neighborhood that targeted homes, buildings, the UNRWA and Al Aqsa Hospital, relief crews were able to come in. Palestinian medical sources reported this morning that several bodies were found in the rubble. While headlines focus on the possibilities of a ceasefire, attacks continue. Israeli forces targeted a car in central Gaza City, killing two people this afternoon. Recovered from under the wreckage of yesterday were 23 more corpses. At least 30 people were killed in the Tel Al Hawa neighborhood yesterday. The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip since 27 December is 1,135 as of 6:30 pm Friday. In a bombardment on the southern Strip this morning, Israeli forces killed another child and injured three others. more.. e-mail
IDF strikes 40 targets in Gaza; sources say ’23 bodies found under rubble’
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/16/2009
Mosque used to store weapons, six terror cells among targets hit by aircraft; Palestinians say bodies found beneath rubble of building in Gaza City neighborhood that was heavily bombarded Thursday; rocket fire on Negev continues - Israel NewsIsraeli aircraft struck some 40 targets throughout the Gaza Strip overnight Friday, including a mosque in which weapons were stored. Six terror cells and three more arms caches were also attacked. The Navy took part in the strikes. Medical sources in Gaza reported that 23 bodies have been found under the rubble of a building in Gaza City’s Tel Hawwa neighborhood. The area was heavily bombarded by IDF forces on Thursday. It was further reported that a Palestinian boy was killed and 10 people were injured during an IDF attack at the al-Shabura refugee camp in Rafah. more.. e-mail
Palestinian killed, IDF soldier hurt in West Bank protest against Gaza operation
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/17/2009
Israel Defense Forces troops on Friday shot and killed a Palestinian who participated in a violent West Bank protest against Israel’s offensive in Gaza. An IDF soldier sustained light wounds when Palestinian demonstrators hurled rocks at troops who stopped them from marching into Hebron to protest the Israeli operation in the coastal strip. IDF soldiers then fired tear gas rubber-coated bullets at the group of protesters, killing one. Palestinian witnesses named the dead man as Musab Daana, 20. A Palestinian medic said that Daana was killed by a live round to the head. Fifteen other Palestinians were injured in the incident. Israel’s offensive in Gaza entered its 21 day Friday, as the Israel Air Force attacked close to 40 targets in the coastal strip, while rockets fired from Gaza pounded southern Israel. more.. e-mail
Palestinian sources: ’Iran unit’ of Hamas has been destroyed
Avi Issacharoff Amos Harel Amira Haas and Yanir Yagna, Ha’aretz 1/17/2009
Palestinian sources reported Thursday that the "Iranian Unit" of Hamas, members of the group’s military wing trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, had been destroyed. According to the sources, most of the unit’s members were killed in fighting in the Zeytun neighborhood, where they had been deployed by the military leadership of Hamas. The unit numbered approximately 100 men who had traveled to Iran and Hezbollah camps, mostly in the Beka’a Valley, where they were trained in infantry fighting tactics. The militants were also trained in the use of anti-tank missiles, the detonation of explosives, among other skills. They managed to return to the Gaza Strip through tunnels in the Rafah border area, although a few also crossed during one of the few times that Egypt agreed to open the border crossing as a gesture of good will to Hamas. more.. e-mail
Pregnant woman hospitalized as Gaza rocket hits Ashkelon home
Yanir Yagana, and News Agencies, Ha’aretz 1/17/2009
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Friday fired more than 15 rockets at southern Israel Friday, leaving five Israelis wounded. A pregnant woman was hospitalized in Ashkelon after her home suffered a direct him from a rocket, while two Israelis were wounded in Ashdod - one moderately and the other lightly. Earlier on Friday, three Israelis sustained light wounds when two Grad rockets struck the southern town of Kiryat Gat. Advertisement Another rocket struck the Ashdod area, inflicting damage to a building, while five rockets exploded in the Eshkol region Friday morning. Two of the rockets that exploded in Eshkol landed in fields and another struck an agricultural structure, just minutes after workers finished their breakfast and exited the building. more.. e-mail
This Week in Palestine -Week 03 2009
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/16/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 14 m 0s || 12. 6 MB || This Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for January 10th 2009 through to January 16th 2009. Hamas accepts the Egyptian initiative, while the Israeli military continues to pound Gaza. The death toll is now over 1,100. These stories and more coming up. Stay tuned. Nonviolent Activities Let us begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank with IMEMC’s Corey Balsam: On Friday, scores of Palestinians from the village of Nil’in, located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, conducted a protest against the illegal Israeli wall being built on village land, part of the Israeli settlement and annexation project. The people conducted Friday prayers near the village lands, and then proceeded to march to the land being confiscated by Israel. more.. e-mail
Brigades sustain losses; continue firing projectiles at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 1/16/2009
Gaza - Ma’an - Gaza’s armed factions reported several losses in battles with Israeli troops overnight Thursday, but continued to announce the launch of projectiles at Israeli targets in and outside of the Gaza Strip. The Salah Ad-Din Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees said that three of its members, Abed Ar-Rahman As-Suri, Mohmmad Issa Ash-Sharafi, and Amir Abu Riyala were killed. The Brigades said an Israeli drone fired three missiles at the fighters. The National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), announced the death of a field commander, Hamuda Thabet. The group said Israeli forces killed Thabet in the An-Nasser neighborhood of the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza. ClashesThe Abu Al-Abbas Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Liberation Front said in a statement that. . . more.. e-mail
Palestinian resistance repels IOF troops in Tel Al-Islam
Palestinian Information Center 1/16/2009
Gaza, (PIC)-- Fighters of the Palestinian resistance factions led by the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas Movement, have succeeded Friday in pushing the invading IOF troops out of Tel A-Islam suburb, west of Gaza city, after fierce clashes in the area. According to sources in the Palestinian resistance, the Palestinian fighters destroyed a number of Israeli armored vehicles despite the intensive Israeli air, land, and sea strikes on the populated suburb. The headquarters of the UNRWA in Gaza Strip and a local hospital where around 500 people, including hundreds of patients, were inside were bombed by the Israeli warplanes alleging they were used by the Palestinian fighters to shoot at the IOF troops. The UNRWA and the hospital shrugged off the allegations and accused Israel of fabricating them. Local sources confirmed to the PIC correspondent that the IOF troops were. . . more.. e-mail
Resistance rockets hit Israeli factory in Keryat Gat
Palestinian Information Center 1/16/2009
GAZA, (PIC)- The Israeli occupation government has acknowledged Friday that Palestinian resistance fighters were able to unleash a number of their locally-manufactured rockets at Israeli settlements around Gaza Strip, destroying a factory and injuring 20 Israeli settlers. The Hebrew radio reported that at least five Israeli settlers were wounded, and 15 others suffered shock when a number of Qassam and Grad missiles slammed into a number of Israeli settlements around Gaza Strip, including Keryat gat and Ashkilon among other colonies. Despite the brutal Israeli air, land, and sea offensive on Gaza Strip that enters its fourth week now with the aim to thwart firing of rockets at Israeli colonies, the Palestinian resistance fighters continued retaliating to the Israeli attack, implicitly declaring the failure of the Israeli declared objectives of the war. more.. e-mail
4 injured in rocket attacks
Tova Dadon, YNetNews 1/16/2009
Rocket hits home in Ashdod injuring 2 people while two rockets explode in Kiryat Gat for first time, injuring three - Despite reports of the fighting in Gaza coming to an end, barrages of rockets were fired by Palestinian gunmen at Ashdod Friday. One hit a home in the city and injured two people, one of them moderately and the other lightly. Another rocket hit a factory, causing damage. Another projectile fired from Gaza at around 3 pm landed in the yard of a house in the southern city, but no injuries or damage were reported. In addition, one rocket exploded in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat for the first time. Three people sustained minor injuries in the attack, while at least two others were treated for shock. Severe damage was caused to shops located in close proximity to the landing site. more.. e-mail
DFLP launches projectiles at Israeli base
Ma’an News Agency 1/16/2009
Gaza Maan The National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said it launched two homemade projectiles at Israels Kissufim military installation on Friday morning. There was no confirmation from the Israeli side. [end]
VIDEO - Gaza conflict: day 21
The Guardian 1/16/2009
Israeli forces continue to attack Gaza City and hundreds attend funeral of prominent Hamas leader, Said Siam. [end]
Israeli jets kill Hamas leader
Al Jazeera 1/15/2009
One of Hamas’s senior leaders has been killed in an Israeli air raid in Gaza, al-Quds television has reported. Said Siam, who was the interior minister in Hamas’s government, was killed along with one of his sons and a brother in an air raid in Jabalya refugee camp on Thursday. "Leader Said Siam, his son [Mohammed] and his brother fell as martyrs in Gaza," al-Quds, a Hamas TV station based in Beirut, reported. Hamas officials confirmed the three died in an Israeli air attack on a house rented by Siam’s brother. "The blood of Siam will be a curse on the Zionist entity," Mohammed Nazzal, a Hamas official, told Al Jazeera. Top leaderSiam is considered to be among Hamas’s top five leaders in Gaza. As interior minister in Hamas’s government in Gaza, he had been in charge of 13,000 Hamas police and security men, many of whom are actively involved in fighting Israel. more.. e-mail
Israeli bombardments set Gaza ablaze
Mai Yaghi - GAZA CITY, Middle East Online 1/15/2009
Israeli strikes set UN and media buildings and a hospital ablaze Thursday as tanks rolled deep into Gaza City while diplomats struggled to halt the war that has killed nearly 1,100 people. Hundreds of terrified civilians, many gripping wailing children, fled the advancing Israeli troops inside Gaza’s main city as warplanes pounded the impoverished Hamas-ruled enclave in a bid to stem Palestinian rocket fire. While battles raged on the ground, Egypt kept up Western-backed efforts to end the war in which an estimated 600 Palestinian civilians have been killed. Shortly after UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in Israel, a raid hit the main UN compound in Gaza, wounding three employees, setting fire to a warehouse filled with tonnes of aid, and leading the UNRWA agency to partly suspend operations. An UNRWA spokesman said tens of millions of dollars worth of humanitarian aid had been destroyed in the blaze. more.. e-mail
VIDEO - Gaza conflict: day 20
The Guardian 1/15/2009
UN refugee agency headquarters hit by Israeli artillery fire [white phosphorus, according to UN official John Ging] damaging thousands of tonnes of food, medical supplies - and the Reuters building [end]
The Israeli Army kidnaps five Palestinians during pre-dawn invasions in the West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/15/2009
The Israeli military have kidnapped five Palestinian civilians during pre dawn invasions on Thursday, targeting several West Bank areas. Four of those kidnapped were taken from the city of Hebron and nearby Beit Awwa village, located in the southern part of the West Bank. Palestinian sources in Hebron city reported that the Israeli Army have kidnapped 60 civilians from the city and nearby villages since the beginning of January 2009. Meanwhile, another Israeli force invaded the village of Burkeen, located near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and kidnapped one civilian after searching a number of homes, local sources reported. [end]
Israeli forces seize 24 Palestinians in West Bank raids
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2009
Bethlehem Maan Israeli forces seized 24 Palestinians during overnight raids in the West Bank, the Israeli army reported. The detainees were taken to detention centers. They have not yet been identified. [end]
Child, woman badly injured by rocket
Ynet reporters, YNetNews 1/15/2009
Six people injured as Grad rocket explodes near vehicle in southern city of Beersheba; boy severely injured in head, woman sustains serious wounds, others lightly to moderately hurt. Nearly 30 rockets fired into Israel from Gaza since morning hours - Israel NewsSix people were injured Thursday afternoon as a Grad rocket landed in a residential area in the southern city of Beersheba. A child sustained serious wounds to his head, a woman was severely injured, one person was moderately wounded and the rest were lightly hurt. They were all evacuated to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. Four people, the family members of one of the people injured, were treated for shock at the hospital. Vehicles and houses sustained damage, and main roads were blocked. more.. e-mail
IDF battalion commander, two troops lightly wounded in Gaza fighting
Anshel Pfeffer, Ha’aretz 1/15/2009
An Israel Defense Force battalion commander and two other soldiers were lightly wounded in separate incidents during fighting in Gaza on day 20 of Israel’s campaign against Hamas in the coastal territory. Lt. Col. Yoav Mordechai was serving as the commander of the Golani infantry brigade’s 13th Battalion. He took over the position last week after his predecessor Oren Cohen was moderately wounded in a "friendly fire" incident during which three Israeli soldiers were killed. In another incident, two IDF soldiers from the Givati infantry brigade were lightly wounded near Gaza City. IDF troops backed by helicopter gunships and tanks on Thursday thrust further into Gaza City than ever before, seeking out Hamas gunmen and carrying out the army’s most relentless shelling in Gaza yet. more.. e-mail
Boy, 7, seriously hurt as Gaza rockets slam into Be’er Sheva
Yanir Yagana and Yossi Melman , and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 1/15/2009
Two rockets fired by Gaza militants on Thursday hit Be’er Sheva, wounding five people, including a 7-year-old boy who was seriously hurt. One of the rockets struck a car. A spokesman for the Magen David Adom emergency services said two people were seriously hurt and two were moderately wounded in the attack. The Israel Air Force destroyed the launcher used in Gaza to fire the rockets into Be’er Sheva, and hit the squad that fired them, Channel 10 quoted the army as reporting. The IAF earlier Thursday shot down a Qassam rocket launchedinto Israel by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. Shortly before 8 A. M. , an Israeli jet fired on a rocket launching squad and intercepted a rocket, causing it to explode. Eyewitnesses in the Kfar Aza area in the western Negev reported seeing the mid-air collision. more.. e-mail
Grad rocket hits Beersheva
Globes' correspondent, Globes Online 1/15/2009
Last night, 11 IDF soldiers were wounded lightly in battles against Hamas in Gaza. Diplomatic attempts to reach a ceasefire intensified, with efforts centering on an Egyptian proposal. A Grad rocket landed in Beersheva on Thursday afternoon, causing injuries. Two people were seriously injured. A rocket landed directly on a car. About ten rockets werefired into Israeli cities from Gaza this morning. Most landed in open areas, and there are no reports of injuries. One Kassam rocket landed in the garden of a house in Sderot, causing damage. Last night, about 11 IDF soldiers were wounded lightly in battles against Hamas in Gaza. The IDF reported 35 Hamas fighters killed in the fighting. During the night, the Israeli Air Force hit about 70 targets in Gaza, including fourteen cells of armed gunmen, fourteen sites used to launch rockets and. . . more.. e-mail
Gaza toll reaches 1,095; more than 5,000 injured
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2009
Gaza Maan At least 1,095 Palestinians have been killed in 20 days of the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, a senior Palestinian health official told Maan on Thursday. According to Dr Muawiyah Hassanain, the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Health Ministry in Gaza, 5,027 have been injured. [end]
Airstrike in Sheikh Radwan kills three, injures 25
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2009
Gaza Maan An Israeli F16 fighter jet fired a missile at a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza on Thursday afternoon, killing three and injuring 25 others. Israeli warplanes and artillery have also shelled hospitals, mosques, and a UN compound on Thursday. [end]
Palestinian fighters claim to have tunneled into Israel, blowing up tank
Ma’an News Agency 1/14/2009
Gaza Maan Palestinian guerillas claim that they tunneled under the Green Line into Israel on Wednesday and managed to blow up an Israeli tank. The An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, and the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said their fighters used a tunnel that had been dug from the Ash-Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza, near the Nahal Oz border crossing. Having reached the other side, the fighters blew up an Israeli tank, killing soldiers inside. The Israeli military has not commented on any of these claims. The statement also said that two Palestinian fighters had been killed in fighting with Israeli forces. They were identified as Hussein Ash-Shaer and Mansour Madi from the city of Rafah. more.. e-mail
Israelis shell hospitals and UN HQ
Al Jazeera 1/16/2009
Three hospitals and a UN compound have been bombed by Israel as troops continue to advance into the densely-populated Gaza City. Around 500 people were sheltering in the Al-Quds hospital in the city’s southwestern Tal Al-Hawa district when it was bombed by Israeli jets and set ablaze on Thursday morning. Hospital officials said the fire was sparked by a "phosphorus shell". "We have been able to control the fire in the hospital but not in the administrative building," one hospital official said. "We hope that the flames don’t spread again to the wings of the hospital. "Two hospitals east of Gaza City were also hit by Israeli shells as Gazans fled tanks advancing into the city. It was not immediately clear if any casualties following the raids. more.. e-mail
20th day under attack: Tanks enter Gaza City
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 1/15/2009
Death toll reaches 1,070 as thousands of Palestinians flee the shelling - Thousands of Gazans left their homes and fled Gaza City on Thursday as Israeli military tanks stormed the city. Rami AL Meghari, IMEMC correspondant in Gaza, said that Israeli tanks have moved into the Gaza City center, near a United Nations relief compound. The tanks have been randomly shelling residential areas. Rami added that "as tanks proceeded into the city, thousands of families fearing for their lives left their homes, and fled to other parts of Gaza City. " As tanks continued their onslaught, the Israeli Air Force bombarded the town of Beit Hannon, located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. As the offensive continues for the 20th day, Dr. Mo’awiah Hassanen, director of the Emergency and Ambulance department in the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told news agencies that the death toll in Gaza by Thursday. . . more.. e-mail
Said Seyam martyred in an Israeli occupation airstrike
Palestinian Information Center 1/15/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Said Seyam, a prominent Hamas leader and Interior Minister of the elected government of Ismail Haneyya, was martyred Thursday evening along with his son, his brother and his brother’s wife in an Israeli airstrike at a house in the Yarmouk neighbourhood at the centre of Gaza city. Hamas sources said that Seyam was martyred when Israeli occupation airforce bombed the house of Sheikh Eyad Seyam, the brother of Said Seyam during a visit by the latter to his brother’s house. The bodyguard of Said Seyam was also martyred in the attack along with his brother and his brother’s wife. Four other citizens from a neighbouring house were killed in the airstrike, three of them children. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli occupation airplanes fired two rockets at the house of Said Seyams brother. Hamas mourned Said Seyam saying that leaders of the movement were always at the. . . more.. e-mail
Airstrike kills senior Hamas minister
Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters, The Independent 1/15/2009
Israel killed a senior Hamas leader in an air strike today after unleashing its heaviest shelling of Gaza neighbourhoods in what might be a final push against the Islamist group before a ceasefire. In a step that could bring a deal closer, Washington promised security guarantees addressing Israeli demands in Egyptian-brokered truce negotiations. Saeed Seyyam, who as interior minister in Hamas’s government oversaw 13,000 Hamas police and security men, was killed in an air strike in Jabalya refugee camp, Hamas said. Palestinian sources said he had been in a house rented by his brother, who also killed along with Seyyam’s son. "The blood of Seyyam will be a curse on the Zionist entity," Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal told Al Jazeera television. At least 15 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza city, medical officials said. more.. e-mail
Israel assassinates de facto interior minister, nine others
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2009
Gaza Maan/Agencies The Israeli military assassinated de facto Interior Minister Saeed Syam in an airstrike on Thursday. His brother and son were also killed in the blast, according to news reports. In addition to Syam, nine others were killed in the strike, which reportedly targeted a senior Islamic Jihad leader and the head of the Al-Qassam Brigades, an armed faction affiliated with Hamas. Aluf Benn, a military correspondent, said Israeli intelligence confirmed the presence of Syam and his staff near his brothers home before ordering the assassination. Hamas announced a period of mourning over the assassination of Syam, who was a member of the movements politburo, in addition to his role at the de facto Interior Ministry. Syam was appointed to the post shortly after Hamas won legislative elections in 2006. more.. e-mail
PROFILE / Slain Hamas minister was key figure in ’07 Gaza ’coup’
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/16/2009
Hamas Interior Minister Said Sayyam, killed in an Israeli airstrike Thursday, was one of the Islamic militant group’s top five leaders in Gaza and a key figure in its violent takeover [defeat of a Fateh-US-Israeli coup attempt] of the territory in 2007. The 50-year-old Sayyam was in his brother’s house in a Gaza City suburb when an Israeli warplane dropped a huge bomb, flattening the building and leaving a deep crater in the sandy ground. Sayyam’s brother and the brother’s family were also killed. Hamas TV showed footage of Sayyam’s body, wrapped in a bloodied white shroud. Sayyam was the second of Hamas’ top five to be assassinated during Israel’s 20-day-old offensive, aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire on southern Israel. The offensive has killed nearly 1,100 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, but Hamas has yet to agree to an Egyptian cease-fire offer. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 011509
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/15/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 4 m 00s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Thursday, January 15th 2009. Death toll in Gaza reaches 1,078 as Israeli troops shell residential areas and UN Centers in the Coastal Region, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian medical sources said that 37 Palestinians have been killed on Thursday due to the ongoing Israeli attack. The Ministry of Health in Gaza, announced that the death toll in Gaza by Thursday morning stands at 1,078 Palestinians, among them 335 children. In addition the number of those injured has reached a total of 4,900 today, including 400 in critical condition. Thousands of Gazans left their homes and fled from Gaza City on Thursday as Israeli military tanks stormed the city. more.. e-mail
Galant: Pressure on Hamas is huge
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/15/2009
GOC Southern Command tells community heads IDF has gained great achievements in Gaza - GOC Southern Command Yoav Galant arrived in Ashkelon on Thursday evening in order to brief the leaders of the Gaza vicinity communities on the military operation in Gaza. "The pressure we’ve exerted over Hamas is huge," he said. "If the prime minister or defense minister says we will respond when and where we see fit, this sentence will have actual validity from now on. In the future, the Palestinians will not be able to ignore this," Galant added. "In the past every Hamas leader would build a three-story house, making the basement a weapons warehouse, the middle story his headquarters, and the top story a living area for the family after realizing over the years that the IDF would not strike the building because of the family," the commander of the military offensive said. more.. e-mail
Gaza City covered by smoke, heavy fire
PNN, Palestine News Network 1/15/2009
Gaza -- Despite some speculation that Israeli forces were beginning to lessen the intensification of attacks, dozens of tanks plowed into southern Gaza City’s Tel Al Hawa neighborhood this morning. Early this afternoon the UNRWA is reporting a renewed threat to its headquarters. The number of Palestinians killed is well over one thousand as of this update at 12:15 pm. This morning the death toll had reached 1,066 Palestinians killed on the twentieth day of this major Israeli operation for which the term massacre must be applied. The injuries number at approximately 4,650. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reports that 85 percent of overall casualties are among women and children. Since midnight Israeli forces have killed 21 more Palestinians,and then another 15 during the attack on Tel Al Hawa. more.. e-mail
Armed groups continue firing projectiles at south Israel
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2009
Gaza Maan About ten projectiles were fired on Ashkol from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to Israeli news reports. No injuries or damage were reported. Five projectiles were fired toward Sderot, hitting a home and reportedly causing structural damage to the house, as well as terrifying a number of residents. Another projectile landed in the western Negev, sources said. Islamic Jihads Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for detonating four explosive charges near a tank and another armored vehicle in Gaza, they said in a statement that added the weight of the bombs was some 200 kilograms. The Palestinian Resistance Committee (PRC)s armed wing, the Salah Ad-Din Brigades, said they destroyed an Israeli tank, killing all of its soldiers in the Tal Al-Hawa area. They also fired an RPG toward an armored vehicle near Gaza and reported clashing with Israeli forces in Ash-Shujaiyah. more.. e-mail
15 homemade projectiles land in Israel
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2009
Bethlehem - Ma’an Palestinian fighters launched at least 15 homemade projectiles from Gaza into Israel on Thursday on the 20th day of the Israeli offensive. According to Israeli Channel Ten, eight projectiles landed in the Eshkol area, to the east of the Gaza Strip. Another five landed in the town of Sderot, bordering Gaza to the northeast. A house was damaged in Sderot. While no physical injuries were reported, several Israelis were treated for shock. The An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, said that they fired one projectile at an Israeli vehicle near Jabal Al-Rayis, east of Gaza City. The group also reported fierce fighting with Israeli forces in the Ash-Shujaiya neighborhood of southeast Gaza City. Another group, the Abu Al-Abbas Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Liberation Front, claimed to have launched one homemade projectile at Sderot. more.. e-mail
Israelis receive SMS messages apparently from Hamas warning of `surprises` in Gaza
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 1/16/2009
A number of Israelis have received SMS messages apparently from Hamas warning that Israel Defense Forces troops face ’surprises’ including death in the Gaza Strip, Channel 10 reported on Thursday. An Israeli woman interviewed on a Channel 10 morning show reported how she received a text message this week that read: "Come on into Gaza lots of surprises waiting for your sons, the least of which is death. " The text message displays the number from which it was sent, and security authorities have opened an investigation. Before IDF troops entered the Gaza Strip on January 3rd, they were required to turn over their cellular phones, meaning that if the SMS messages were sent to them, they were probably not received. In the current war, coverage of psychological warfare has been off limits to journalists, unlike in the Second Lebanon War. more.. e-mail
News in Brief - Rabbi: 'war of the people of Israel against Amalek'
Ha’aretz 1/16/2009
The Chief Rabbi of Safed, Rabbi Shmuel Elyahu, visited a Bnei Akiva yeshiva in Ashdod yesterday where he declared the war against Hamas as "a war of the people of Israel against Amalek. "The yeshiva had originally been in the settlement of Neveh Dekalim and was evacuated in 2005 along with similar communities in the Gaza Strip. "This is not a private war of Shmuel and Moshe against Muhammad, but a war of the nation of Israel against those wishing to destroy Jews. This is a [Hamas] war against Judaism and that is how it should be seen. (Nadav Shragai) The Jerusalem District Court yesterday released to house arrest two East Jerusalem residents who are charged with violating censorship restrictions by reporting for Iranian television at the start of the IDF’s ground offensive. The two were released on bail of NIS 150,000 each and the court ruled that they should be under constant supervision. more.. e-mail
Search reveals only 2 Katyushas fired Wednesday
Hagai Einav Published, YNetNews 1/15/2009
UN force in Lebanon assists investigation refuting assumption that three rockets were fired at north -An investigation conducted on the northern border Thursday revealed that only two rockets were fired towards the Galilee on Wednesday, and not three, as had been reported by residents in the area. A UNIFIL investigation Wednesday in southern Lebanon prevented an additional attack by revealing three Katyushas aimed at Israel. At around 8:30 am alarms sounded in Kiryat Shmona, Metula, and the surrounding communities. Residents reported of a cloud of smoke seen near Kiryat Shmona and of blasts heard in the area. Four women suffered shock, including a 15-year old. Students studying in local schools were ordered to enter bomb shelters, and rescue and security forces began searching for landing sites of the rockets. more.. e-mail
Gaza war rages as toll tops 1,000
Al Jazeera 1/15/2009
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza as the assault enters its 20th day. As the offensive continued in the early hours of Thursday, with what has now come to be nightly explosions and heavy gunfire on the ground in Gaza City, diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire continued to yield little result. The neighbourhood of Tufah came under intense bombardment and at least five people were reportedly killed there. And a mosque in the southern town of Rafah near the Egyptian border was hit by artillery fire. The Palestinian death toll stands at about 1,025 people and nearly 5,000 have been injured, with 40 per cent of the dead civilians and a third children, aid agencies and Palestinian medics say. Al Jazeera’s Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Gaza, said more than 80,000 Palestinians had fled their homes because of the fighting and there was a real desperation and fear among the people. more.. e-mail
1033 killed in the ongoing offensive, at least 4580 wounded The Israeli army continued its offensive
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/15/2009
The Israeli army continued its offensive against the Gaza Strip and killed on Wednesday, the nineteenth day of the offensive at least twenty-two Palestinians. Dr. Muawiya Hassanen, of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported that 1033 Palestinians were killed, 4580 were wounded in the ongoing Israeli attacks. On Wednesday at night, medical sources reported that five Palestinians were killed and at least seven were wounded when the army shelled the home of Abu Waheed Mousa, a civilian living in Al Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City. Another resident was killed when the army shelled Tal Al Hawa neighborhood. Also, an UNRWA personnel was seriously wounded when the army shelled a clearly marked UN vehicle in Tal Al Hawa. One resident was killed when the army shelled a residential tower, north of Gaza City. more.. e-mail
Soccer / Operation Cast Lead / Showdown between IFA and Israeli Arab club averted after police okay grounds
Gil Shefler, Ha’aretz 1/15/2009
The Israel Police yesterday reversed its previous decision and announced it would permit Bnei Sakhnin to host its match against Hakoah Ramat Gan at its home ground, Doha Stadium, this Saturday. "The decision was made despite and in addition to our wide-scale spread in the northern district," a police official said. "Our aim is to allow everyday life to return and so we made a decision to assist all sports teams to hold matches as usual and offer our help. " Police had previously told the Israel Football Association it would not permit the match to take place in the Israeli Arab town because of heightened security concerns in light of the ongoing Israel Defense Forces operation in the south. Bnei Sakhin officials were outraged by the decision and threatened to boycott the match if it were relocated. Yesterday management and players reacted positively to the news the club would be allowed to host the match. more.. e-mail
Troops kidnap seven civilians from villages near Hebron
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/14/2009
The Israeli Army invaded several villages located near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and kidnapped seven Palestinian civilians on Wednesday. Local sources said that Israeli troops attacked and searched homes in the villages of Beit Awwa and Sa’er, before kidnapping seven men and taking them to unknown locations. Among those kidnapped were Mos’ab Al Sowiti, age 20, Monther Hamed, age 19, Mo’ath Al Sowiti and Samer Masalmah. According to locals, Israeli troops gathered the men aged above 18 in the village school in Beit Awwa before searching the homes. Locals added that soldiers abused some of them and beat them up during the time they were in custody. During the search of locals’ homes, witnesses told the Palestinian News Agency WAFA that soldiers destroyed electrical equipment in homes and took money that belongs to the families. more.. e-mail
IDF soldier seriously hurt in anti-tank missile attack in Gaza
Anshel Pfeffer and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 1/15/2009
Seven Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded on Wednesday, one of them seriously, as Palestinian militants fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli paratroopers just outside Gaza City. One soldier sustained moderate wounds and five were lightly hurt as Israel’s offensive against Hamas terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip neared the end of the 19th day. Later Wednesday, six IDF soldiers were lightly wounded when a wall collapsed in northern Gaza. The six were evacuated to Israel for medical attention. Earlier Wednesday, IDF paratroopers killed a Palestinian suicide bomber who attempted to detonate his explosives belt near them. The paratroopers discovered the terrorist while searching a site in the northern section of Gaza City. When the bomber attempted to approach them, the soldiers opened fire, apparently hitting his explosives belt and detonating it. more.. e-mail
Six soldiers lightly wounded in Gaza Strip when building collapses on them
Jerusalem Post 1/15/2009
Six IDF soldiers were lightly wounded on Wednesday in the northern Gaza Strip when a house collapsed on them, apparently after a bomb planted in the building exploded. The soldiers were evacuated to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. This incident brings the number of IDF forces wounded on the 20th day of Operation Cast Lead to 22. [end]
Gaza: IDF soldier seriously hurt by antitank missile
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/14/2009
Palestinian gunmen fire antitank missile at Paratroopers unit during clashes in northern Gaza Wednesday, injuring seven troops. One soldier sustains serious injuries, another moderately wounded and five lightly hurt - An IDF soldier was seriously wounded Wednesday during clashes with Palestinian gunmen in the northern Gaza Strip. One soldier sustained moderate injuries and five others were lightly injured. The troops were evacuated to hospitals in Israel and their families have been notified. The soldiers were hurt after gunmen fired an antitank missile at a paratroopers unit operating near Gaza City. The Israel Defense Forces attacked about 60 different targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night, including Hamas’ police headquarters, several terrorist cells and arms smuggling tunnels. Three officers and three soldiers were lightly to moderately injured in exchanges of fire with Palestinian terrorists. more.. e-mail
Hamas SMS: Surprises waiting for your sons
Daniel Edelson, YNetNews 1/14/2009
As IDF continues to hit Hamas, terror organization responds with psychological warfare. Number of Israeli citizens receive text message to their cellular phones Wednesday threatening that soldiers in Gaza will be hurt - After Hamas sent a text message in broken Hebrew to a number of Israeli cellular phones during the first days of Operation Cast Lead, the organization ahs now decided to try its luck in an English message. "Come on into Gaza. A number of surprises waiting for your sons, the least of which is death. Hamas," read the SMS message received Wednesday by a number of Israelis on their cellular phones. Attempts to call the phone number from which the message was sent, that appeared to have an British country code, was met with an automated message the number had been disconnected. Nava Inbar, a resident of Tel Aviv, does not usually receive text message early in the morning. more.. e-mail
Fire resumed: Rocket hits Ashdod
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/14/2009
Despite reports of imminent ceasefire in Gaza, rocket fire still threatening south. Sirens heard in Ashdod, Ashkelon Wednesday evening, one rocket lands in Ashdod - While talks on a ceasefire are being held in Egypt, rockets from Gaza continue to pound Israel’s south. Sirens were sounded in Ashkelon and Ashdod Wednesday evening, and one rocket exploded in Ashdod. No injuries or damage were reported in the attack. Thirteen rockets have been fired at Israel since the morning hours. The latest barrage was recorded around noon, as two rockets landed near Ashdod and Yavne, one in the Beersheba area and one in the Sdot Negev Regional Council, where a hothouse suffered damage. The attacks began shortly after 10:30 am, when two Qassams landed in open fields in the Eshkol Regional Council. Another rocket was fired on the area shortly afterwards, and three others landed in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council and near Ashkelon about an hour later. more.. e-mail
19th Day under attack: 997 killed in Gaza and 4,525 injured
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/14/2009
The Israeli military continued its offensive, targeting the Palestinian coastal region for the 19th straight day on Wednesday. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that at least five Palestinians were reported killed by Wednesday midday; this brings the death toll in Gaza since the start of the Israeli operation, 19 days ago, to 997. The Ministry added that among those killed are 311 children. Meanwhile, the number of those injured reached 4,525, among them 300 are in critical conditions. Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli Army shelled residential areas in Gaza City, and in the nearby Jabalyia town. Meanwhile, Israeli tanks advanced from several areas deeper into the coastal region. Witnesses and reporters said that a clouds of smoke covered the sky over Gaza City in the morning due to the intense bombardment from Israeli warplanes. more.. e-mail
Fighting rages in Gaza as toll nears 1,000
Middle East Online 1/14/2009
GAZA CITY - Israeli forces battled Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip’s main city early Wednesday and bombed the enclave’s southern border with Egypt as the death toll from the war on Gaza neared 1,000. With the war now in its 19th day, witnesses said there were far fewer air strikes on Gaza City and other parts of the north than on the previous night, but that heavy fighting still continued. "Tanks are shelling Palestinian fighters, who are responding with RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades)," a media correspondent said. "There is heavy machine-gun fire on both sides. " One Palestinian was killed and another 20 wounded when an air strike destroyed a house in the city’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, he quoted medics and witnesses as saying. Speaking on Tuesday, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas had said Israel’s offensive was "becoming more ferocious each day as the number of victims rises. more.. e-mail
Palestinian death toll in Gaza reaches 1,000
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, Peter Walker, The Guardian 1/14/2009
The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza conflict climbed to more than 1,000 today after nearly three weeks of intensive Israeli bombing and fighting on the ground. So far, 1,010 Palestinians have been killed, among them 315 children and 95 women, Dr Moawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza’s medical emergency services, told the Guardian. The number of injured after 19 days of fighting stood at 4,700, he said. As Israeli troops fought on the outskirts of Gaza City after another night of heavy bombing and shelling, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict intensified, with the secretary-general of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, in Cairo for urgent talks. He is calling for an immediate ceasefire. With the death toll rising, Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, said his country had cut diplomatic relations with Israel. He called for Israeli leaders to face charges at the international criminal court. more.. e-mail
Phosphorus mortar shell detected in Negev
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 1/14/2009
Hazardous shell located in Eshkol Regional Council a day after hitting ground, causing no damage. ’Potential danger of using such a rocket is enormous,’ says community’s security chief - One of the mortar shells fired from northern Gaza at the Eshkol Regional Council Tuesday contained white phosphorus. The council’s security chief, Nikki Levy, said that "the potential danger of using such a rocket is enormous. It is far more dangerous than other Qassam rockets and mortal shells. This is an escalation in the type of explosives the Palestinians use on civilians. "Haim Yelin, head of the Eshkol Regional Council, added: "Everyone criticized Israel for the weapons it’s been using, but we must realize that the other side is using illegal weapons. " more.. e-mail
Hamas ’launches first phosphorus rocket’ at Negev; no injuries reported
Anshel Pfeffer, Yanir Yagna and Eli Ashkenazi, Ha’aretz 1/15/2009
Palestinian militants fired a phosphorus rocket at Israel for the first time yesterday, one of 17 fired into Israel as fighting entered its 19th day. The phosphorus rocket exploded in an open field in the western Negev. No injuries or damage were reported. Also yesterday, three rockets were fired at Israel from southern Lebanon, the second time in a week the north has come under attack. No injuries were reported. In Gaza operations, seven Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded yesterday, one of them seriously, as Palestinian militants fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli paratroopers just outside Gaza City. Five IDF paratroopers were wounded during a separate gunbattle in northern Gaza. Two officers were moderately wounded and an officer and two soldiers were lightly wounded in the incident, which began when they were fired upon by gunmen. more.. e-mail
Hamas Web site: Saudi ’fighter-priest’ killed in Gaza battle
Yossi Melman, Ha’aretz 1/15/2009
The unusual report of a Saudi jihadist, who was killed while fighting Israel alongside Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, appears to indicate that Hamas may be gaining greater acceptance among even more fundamentalist Muslim groups. As a rule, Hamas does not release details about its casualties - neither in number nor identity. But a Web site identified with a radical Islamic organization that preaches jihad and features the logo of Hamas’ military wing, reported that Abu Muhammed Mari, a Saudi sheikh mujahid ("fighter-priest"), who previously fought in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya, was killed in the fighting in Gaza. Reuven Paz, an Israeli scholar who researches radical Islam and who noticed the posting on the Web site, said it is important because it appears to mark a change in the way Al-Qaida and other jihad proponents view Hamas. more.. e-mail
Three Palestinians killed on Tuesday at dawn, offensive ongoing
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/14/2009
The Israeli army intensified its air and ground attacks against the Gaza Strip on Tuesday at dawn, killing one Palestinian in Sheikh Radwan area in Gaza, and two fighters east of Rafah, in the souther part of the Gaza Strip. The Salah Ed Deen Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, reported that two of its fighters were killed, and a third fighter were seriously wounded, when the Israeli Air Force shelled an area east of Rafah. The two slain fighters were identified as Mohammad and Moneer Abu Sneema, while the wounded fighter was identified as Mohammad Abu Doqqa; he is currently in a serious condition. Soldier fired at least 40 missile at Rafah and its surrounding areas, especially areas close to the Rafah border terminal in the east, and Tal Zo’rob area in the west. Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli Air Force shelled Sheikh Radwan Graveyard in the center of Gaza City destroying several tombs. more.. e-mail
Hamas Health Ministry: More than 1,000 dead in Gaza
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 1/15/2009
The Palestinian death toll in Israel’s Gaza offensive topped 1,000 on Wednesday, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said, as Israel’s offensive, targeting Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, continued into its 19th day. The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human rights said more than 670 civilians were among the dead. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians hit by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip have been killed since Israel launched its campaign on Dec. 27. Backing its demand that any ceasefire ensure that Hamas cannot rearm, Israel sent warplanes to drop missiles on smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border. "They used bombs that went deep into the tunnels and shook the whole Rafah refugee camp. The land trembled beneath our feet," said Bassam Abdallah, a local Palestinian cameraman. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 011409
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/14/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 00s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, on Wednesday, January 14th 2009. Hundreds protest against the continued Israeli attack on Gaza while the death toll in the Costal region reaches 997 killed, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast The Israeli military continued its offensive targeting of the Palestinian costal region for the 18th day. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that at least five Palestinians were killed by midday on Wednesday; this brings the death toll in Gaza since the start of the Israeli operation on December 27th to 997. The Ministry added that among those killed are 311 children and the number injured reached 4,525 including 300 in critical condition. more.. e-mail
False alarms rattle Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh residents
Globes Online 1/14/2009
Rockets did land, however, in Beersheva and Yavne. Warning sirens blared across the Jerusalem area today. Sirens were also heard in Beit Shemesh. After a few minutes, the Home Front Command reported that they were false alarms. The alarms led to several disquieting minutes around 1:00 in the afternoon. However, warning sirens that blared in cities around Gaza were not false alarms. Grad rockets landed in Beersheva and Yavne. [end]
Rocket attack on northern Israel from Lebanon
Middle East Online 1/14/2009
TEL AVIV - Three rockets fired from Lebanon slammed into northern Israel early on Wednesday in the second such attack in less than a week that comes amid a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials said. "Three rockets landed outside Kiryat Shmona," a town at the border between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. In Lebanon, a security official said that one or more rockets were launched into Israel from the southern Lebanese border area of Habaniyeh and that the Israeli army retaliated. "Between one and three rockets were launched from an area four kilometers west of the village of Shebaa and Israel responded within a minute with four rockets that landed north of Ghajar," the official said. The attack comes on the 19th day of a massive Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli sources: rockets fired from Lebanon hit Israel
Ghassan Banoura, International Middle East Media Center News 1/14/2009
Israeli media sources reported on Wednesday that three rockets fired from southern Lebanon have hit northern Israel. The Israeli Army confirmed the incident, and said that the Katyusha rockets hit open areas causing nether damage or injuries. Army sources told the media that Israeli troops fired five artillery shells into southern Lebanon in response to the attack, adding that the army command fears that a second front will open at the Israeli-Lebanese borders because of Gaza. Hezbollah officials denied any involvement. Hezbollah resistance fighters managed to launch almost 4,000 rockets at Israel during the War in Lebanon in 2006. This is the second attack with rockets from the Lebanese borders into Israel since the Israeli military offensive on Gaza started 19 days ago, which, by Wednesday, has left 997 Palestinians killed, among them 311 children. more.. e-mail
Katyushas hit Kiryat Shmona
Globes Online 1/14/2009
There are no reports of injuries or damage. Three Katyusha rockets landed in Israel’s northern city Kiryat Shmona this morning. There are no reports of injuries or damage. Israel is preparing for the possibility that terror organizations will try to hit other targets in the north. Reports from Lebanon claim that the IDF fired 2-4 shells toward the sources of the rocket fire. An IDF spokesperson said that in fighting against Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli Air Force hit about 60 targets overnight, including Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City, an area rigged with explosive devices intended for detonation against IDF forces, five rocket launching sites, and around 35 weapons smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip. Six soldiers were wounded in ground operations throughout the night. more.. e-mail
Rockets from Lebanon hit Israel
Al Jazeera 1/14/2009
At least three rockets fired from southern Lebanon have hit a northern Israeli city. Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said on Wednesday that "three rockets fired into Israel landed outside the city of Kiryat Shmona". They were reportedly fired from the area of Habaniyeh in southern Lebanon. The rockets landed in empty fields and no one was hurt, an Israeli emergency official said. Three other rockets fired from southern Lebanon landed within Lebanese territory, Al Jazeera’s correspondent said. Within minutes of the attack, Israel responded by firing eight rockets into the south of Lebanon, a Lebanese official said. Al Jazeera’s Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut, said the rocket attack was not the first on Israel from Lebanon. more.. e-mail
Soldiers beat a Palestinian man to death in Hebron
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/13/2009
The Maan News Agency reported on Tuesday that Israeli soldiers attacked a Palestinian man while he was sitting with his son in their land in the southern West Bank City of Hebron. The soldiers hit the man with batons and kicked him until he lost consciousness. He died of his wounds later on. An eyewitness told Maan that after the man lost consciousness, soldiers placed him in their jeep and drove away. An army spokesperson claimed that the man attempted to snatch the weapon of one of the soldiers at Tarqoumia roadblock near Hebron. Yet, eyewitnesses said that the man was in his land when he was attacked by the soldiers and that the land is in Ithna village, far away from Tarqoumia roadblock. The slain resident was identified as Yasser Saqer Tmeizy. He died of his wounds at the Ahli Hospital in Hebron. more.. e-mail
1 Dead, Dozens Injured in Gaza by Suspected White Phosphorus Munitions
Yasser Ahmad and Richard Boudreaux, MIFTAH 1/13/2009
Palestinian villagers said the shelling came from the direction of the Israeli border, less than a mile away, scattering flaming objects in their midst and burning down 20 homes and the local United Nations-run school. " One landed in my kitchen and caused a fire," said Zohair Mohammed abu Rejila, 35. "I went to put it out, but another one landed on Mayar, my baby daughter. It was like a block of fire, a piece of plastic on fire. When I knocked it off her, it exploded and out came this heavy white smoke with a very bad smell. " Doctors who treated Abu Rejila, his family and dozens of neighbors in southern Gaza said they were apparent victims of white phosphorus fired from Israeli artillery. One woman was killed. They were the first suspected casualties of the munitions, which armies use as smoke screens for their movements or as incendiary devices, during Israel’s 16-day-old assault on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Israeli army ’shot at from Jordan’
Al Jazeera 1/13/2009
The Israeli army has said that troops guarding its border with Jordan have been fired at from across the border. No one was hurt in the attack on Tuesday, an Israeli army spokesperson said. "Troops were fired upon from the Jordanian side of the border. It was unclear who the gunmen were," the spokesperson said However, witnesses told Al Jazeera that the assailant had crossed the Jordanian border at the Wadi Araba crossing and opened fire at the Israeli patrol from outside the Jordanian territories. Other sources said that four Israeli soldiers were injured, one seriously, in the shooting. DenialBut the Jordanian Petra news agency quoted an unnamed military source as saying that no shots had been fired from Jordan. more.. e-mail
Israeli sources: an Israeli border force came under fire at the Israeli Jordanian borders
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/13/2009
An Israeli border force came under fire while patrolling the borders with Jordan on Tuesday morning. An Israeli army spokesman told media that unknown men opened fire at the military vehicle, no injuries among the Israeli troops where reported. Israel and Jordan has had a peace agreement in effect since 1994. The Jordanian Government announced that they know nothing about the shooting incident at the borders. [end]
Israeli settlers shoots and kills a Palestinian youth in the West Bank
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/13/2009
Palestinian medical sources reported on Tuesday at night that a Jewish settler of Emmanuel illegal colony shot and killed a Palestinian youth from Azzoun town, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia. The youth was identified as Nasr Mustafa Al A’raj, 17. He was moved by Israeli medics to an Israeli hospital but died of his wounds. The settler claimed that the youth and other youths "hurled stones at his vehicle and number of settlers vehicles" as they were driving on a setter-only road east of Azzoun. The Israeli police detained the shooter and questioned him, but also said that they "have evidence that stones were hurled at the vehicle". The settler claimed that he fired rounds of live ammunition "into the air" and not directly at the stone-throwing youths. Medical sources at the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that its medics arrived at the scene but the army. . . more.. e-mail
Settler kills Palestinian stone-thrower
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/13/2009
Israeli man fires at Palestinian stone-throwers in Samaria after vehicle comes under attack - A resident of the West Banks settlement of Emanuel, who apparently feared for his life after his vehicle came under a stoning attack, shot and killed a Palestinian in Samaria Tuesday evening. Security forces launched an investigation into the incident. The shooter was identified and questioned by officials. The incident took place on Highway 55 around 8:30 pm. Initially, the shooter informed that IDF that Palestinians hurled stones and rocks at his vehicle. The man said that he fired warning shots in the air and left the scene, but did not report any injuries. However, an IDF force that arrived at the scene found two Palestinians there, including one in critical condition. The second Palestinian was unhurt. more.. e-mail
Israeli settler kills Palestinian teenager near Qalqiliya
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Qalqilya Maan An Israeli settler shot a Palestinian teenager dead near the West Bank city of Qalqiliya on Tuesday evening. According to Israeli media the settler opened fire on a group of young Palestinians who were throwing stones at settlers cars on a main road near the town of Azzun. The teenager was identified as Naser Mustafa Odeh Al-Araj. The Israeli army prevented the Palestine Red Crescent ambulances from approach the location of the shooting. Israeli troops brought Al-Araj to an Israeli hospital, where he died. The settler shooter is reported to be from the nearby settlement of Immanuel. [end]
Israeli warplanes level sports club in central Gaza, killing two
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Gaza Maan American-made Israeli F16 jets bombed a sports club in the central Gaza Strip on Monday night, killing two people and destroying houses that surrounded the club, Palestinian residents told Maan on Tuesday. Witnesses said the warplanes leveled the Nuseirat Ahly club in Nuseirat Refugee Camp. A number of others were also injured in the attack. Last week Israeli forces destroyed the International Stadium in the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza. [end]
Six bodies pulled out of northern Gaza rubble
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Gaza - Maan - Medical crews continue to pull bodies out of the remains of buildings, said Director of Ambulance and Emergency Services Muaweyah Hassanein. Six were recovered Tuesday afternoon from the Al-Shanti area in the As-Sudaniyeh area north of Gaza City, which is currently under Israeli control. Two of the dead were identified as Hassan Al-Saqa and Ahmad Ad-Dalu. Medical crews said they could see several more bodies on the ground but were barred from reaching the area. [end]
92-year-old man among corpses recovered in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Gaza Maan Rescue workers on Tuesday recovered the body of a 92-year-old Palestinian man in the northern Gaza Strip who had apparently been killed in the first days of the Israeli offensive on Gaza. Medics at Kamal Udwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya said that medical workers had been unable to reach the corpse until Tuesday. Earlier, the Director of Emergency and Ambulance Services in the Ministry of Health, Muawiya Hassanain, said hospitals had received another eleven corpses since dawn. Hassanain said there were certainly more bodies in the streets and in the rubble of bombed buildings who cannot be reached because of ongoing Israeli attacks. [end]
IDF officer critically hurt in Gaza; 6 other soldiers also wounded
Anshel Pfeffer and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 1/13/2009
An Israel Defense Forces officer was critically wounded Tuesday in Gaza, as Israeli ground troops battled Palestinian militants in the streets of a densely populated Gaza City neighborhood. Israel’s push into the Tel Hawwa neighborhood was the furthest it has moved into Gaza City during an 18-day offensive against Hamas militants, bringing IDF ground forces within 1. 5 kilometers of the crowded city center. Second Lieutenant Aharon Karov, 22, was wounded by an explosion in a booby-trapped house, during which another soldier sustained moderate wounds. Karov was serving as the commanding officer of IDF paratroopers brigade at the time of the explosion. Another five soldiers were lightly wounded during battles in Gaza on Tuesday. The soldiers were taken to hospital for treatment, and their families have been notified. more.. e-mail
18th day under attack: Gaza death toll reaches 940 with 4200 injured
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/13/2009
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has left 18 more Palestinians dead on Tuesday. The Ministry of Health stated that the death toll due to the continued Israeli attack have reached 940, and the number of injured has reached 4,200; among the injured 470 are in critical condition. Of the 940 killed, hospital records demonstrate that 280 children, 98 women and 97 elderly people are among the dead. Since Monday night until the time of this report, Israeli jetfighters continued to target the Gaza Strip, the attackes targeted homes and residential areas in Gaza City, Jabalyia and the costal line. On Tuesday at dawn Israeli tanks started to move towards Gaza City, local sources reported. Heavy clashes took place between the Palestinian resistance groups and Israeli ground forces, witnesses said. more.. e-mail
Al-Aqsa Brigades: 12 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Gaza Maan The Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claims to have killed 12 Israeli soldiers and injured six others in a suicide bombing in the northern Gaza Strip. In a statement the organization said: At 3:35 this afternoon a fighter [fedayee] called Abd Ar-Rahman Bawady, 22, bombed himself with 18 Israeli soldiers in one of the destroyed houses in Atatra. The Brigades used RPGs from four directions targeting the troops 10 minutes before the fidae operation and that is to facilitate the assignment of the fighter, the statement added. The term "fedayee" (plural: fedayeen) literally means one who sacrifices himself for his country. The group said that this operation, comes as a response to the ongoing assault on GazaIsrael reported that four soldiers were injured in Gaza on Tuesday, and has not yet said that any were killed. more.. e-mail
Army officials 'disappointed' most captured Gazans are not Hamas members
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/13/2009
Israeli Ynet News reported on Tuesday that Israeli military officials expressed "disappointment" that most of the Palestinian men the army kidnapped during the ongoing offensive in Gaza are not affiliated with Hamas as only 30 out of 200 are affiliated with the movement and not even necessarily involved in combat. The detained Palestinians are under interrogation in Israel, but interrogators were disappointed that only 30 of them have ’connections’ with Hamas or any other armed group in the Gaza Strip. The army established a make-shift facility in order to interrogate residents who are kidnapped during the offensive in Gaza. In the facility, the detainees are classified by ’connections’ with Hamas, only 20 to 30 detainees are believed to have such connections, army sources reported. the Ynet news said that a number of military judges were appointed to preside on the cases. . . more.. e-mail
Medical staff recovers bodies of 22 Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza city
Palestinian Information Center 1/13/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Palestinian medical staff was able this morning to recover bodies of 22 Palestinian citizens killed during the IOF troops’ attempts to advance last night and early Tuesday into the Tel Al-Islam neighborhood, southeast Gaza city. The medical staff have not been able to have access to all bodies which are caught in crossfire in the area, according to Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, the director of emergency services in the health ministry. The Tel Al-Islam area witnessed fierce fighting between Palestinian resistance fighters and IOF troops who failed to break into the area after they took positions in nearby agricultural lands. According to Palestinian eyewitnesses, the Palestinian resistance fighters showed heroic death-defiance and managed to destroy more than 10 tanks and armored vehicles in the area. The eyewitnesses added that the ferocity of the resistance made the. . . more.. e-mail
Authorities name some of the 47 Palestinians killed Tuesday
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Bethlehem Maan Palestinian medical authorities were able to identify some of the 47 victims of Israels raids into Gaza on Tuesday. Khalil Hamdan Ahmad An Najjar, 75, was killed in an airstrike that collapsed his three-story house and injured at least seven of his immediate family members. Rohiyeh Ahmad Suleiman, 45, was killed fleeing the same neighborhood. Authorities also identified 13 Palestinian militants that were killed in fierce clashes in the Al-Karama neighborhood in southwest Jabaliya Refugee Camp. They were named as:Hassan Muhammad Abu Zamar, 22Muhammad Khalil Ibrahim Abu Leila, 20Nael Mahmoud Ali, 25Ibrahim Ismael Dababesh, 22Usama Ahmad Al-Absy, 24Hamad Hassan Al-Barawi, 25Kamel Jamil As-Sarhi, 22Yousef Muhammad Ash-Sharbasy, 27Yousef Ummar Labad, 23Khaled Sady Al-Abed, 22Asad. . . more.. e-mail
Five Palestinian civilians killed in IOF attacks on Khuza’a
Palestinian Information Center 1/13/2009
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Five Palestinians civilians including an 80-year-old man and a child were killed in Khuza’a town east of Khan Younis ot the south of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in the ongoing Israeli occupation forces’ bloody attacks. Medical sources told the PIC reporter that the IOF aerial shelling of one of the civilian homes killed the 80-year-old man while a 45-year-old woman was killed in the same raid but the medics could not yet recover her body. They said that two men in their fifties were killed while trying to rescue wounded citizens while a child was killed in another air raid on nearby Abassan town. The sources noted that 38 Palestinians were wounded in the IOF aggressions, all of them civilians and mostly women and children, including four in serious conditions. They pointed out that the IOF troops destroyed at least 30 homes and damaged vast areas of cultivated lands. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces step up offensive as UN chief tours
Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters, The Independent 1/13/2009
Israeli forces tightened their hold on the outskirts of the city of Gaza today and Israel’s top general said "there is still work" ahead against Hamas in an 18-day-old offensive that has killed more than 900 Palestinians. The sounds of explosions and heavy machinegun fire echoed through the city of 500,000 after Israeli tanks drew nearer but did not enter its densely populated centre, local residents said. Medical workers said 12 Palestinian gunmen, some of them members of the Islamist Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip, were killed in morning fighting. Hamas said its forces detonated explosives beneath Israeli armour and fought with Israeli forces backed by helicopter gunships and naval fire. Israel aircraft attacked 60 targets, including tunnels used by Gaza militants to smuggle arms across the border from Egypt, weapons-making facilities and Hamas command posts, the military said. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces tighten grip on Gaza City - 47 confirmed killed
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Gaza Maan Israeli ground forces tightened their grip around Gaza City on Tuesday as warplanes, artillery and naval forces continued to bombard all parts of the Gaza Strip. More bodies were also recovered from previous days of the Israeli war. Palestinian medical officials confirmed another 47 people killed by Israeli forces over the course of the day. Many were killed as Israeli troops moved further into Tel Al-Hawwa, in the southwest of Gaza City, and Zaytoun, in the south of Gaza. The town of Jabaliya, north of Gaza City, continued to be a focus of clashes with Israeli forces. In the south of the Strip, the town of Khuzaa, near the Israeli border, has been the target of aerial bombardment. Eleven people were killed there including an 75-year-old man. Jabaliya and the northThirteen armed Palestinian fighters were killed in heavy fighting with invading Israeli forces in southwestern Jabaliya. more.. e-mail
Israeli Bombing Continues, Palestinian Death Toll Tops 900
Luis Ramirez, MIFTAH 1/13/2009
Israeli warplanes have been attacking the homes of Hamas leaders in Gaza, during the 17th day of Israel’s assault. Palestinian medical officials say nearly 900 people have died in the attacks, which are showing no signs of letting up. The fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas raged on, as thousands of Israeli reservists entered the Gaza Strip. Israeli ground troops battled militants in house-to-house combat, edging closer to the center of Gaza City. Israel’s attacks on Gaza appeared to be less intense, with military officials saying they carried out fewer than 20 bombings - compared to as many as 40 per night during the past few days. Israel’s aim is to end Hamas’ ability to fire rockets at Israeli civilians as it has been doing for years. A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister’s office, Mark Regev, says Israel is close to reaching its goals as troops close in on areas of Gaza. " We are approaching a situation where our goals are being achieved and we think we are approaching the end game," he said. more.. e-mail
Israeli Troops Push Into Gaza City
Ethan Bronner and Steven Erlanger, MIFTAH 1/13/2009
On the 17th day of the war against Hamas, Israel said its ground forces called in a series of air strikes after troops pushed into a heavily populated area of Gaza City from the south on Sunday in fierce fighting that continued on Monday. Senior Israeli officials said Sunday for the first time in the war that they believed that the Hamas military wing was beginning to crack and that Hamas leaders inside Gaza were looking for a cease-fire. But news reports on Monday said Hamas militants fired as many as 10 missiles out of Gaza into southern Israel without causing casualties. Overnight, the Israeli military said, its warplanes carried out fewer strikes than on some previous nights. By midday Monday, the Israeli military said its warplanes had struck 25 targets including a mosque said to be used to store Hamas rockets and mortars. more.. e-mail
Israel pushes further into Gaza
Al Jazeera 1/14/2009
Israeli troops have made their deepest push yet into Gaza since the beginning of the 18-day-old conflict, as Palestinians prepare for another night of heavy shelling. The Israeli military said on Tuesday its air force had hit what it described as 60 Hamas targets overnight, while 19 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel in the same period. Israeli jets have continued to pound the city of Rafah in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt. Israel is using "bunker-busting" bombs in an attempt to destroy underground tunnels it says have been used to smuggle weapons and goods into the blockaded Gaza Strip. Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza, said tens of thousands of Palestinians had fled their homes after the Israeli military dropped leaflets warning them of intensive air strikes. more.. e-mail
Israel pushes deep into Gaza City
Kim Sengupta and Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem, The Independent 1/14/2009
Israeli forces said they had pushed deeper into Gaza City amid heavy fighting, with some units within a mile of the densely populated urban centre. Terrified residents were said to be fleeing from many homes which had been set alight. At least three Palestinians in Gaza were shot dead yesterday after Israeli soldiers fired on a group of residents leaving their homes on orders from the military and waving white flags, according to testimony taken by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. The testimony was rejected by the military after what it said was a preliminary investigation. The thrust by Israeli ground forces into Tel Hawwa was the furthest the Israelis had gone into Gaza City since military operations were launched on 27 December. Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, declared that he would press forward with an "iron fist". more.. e-mail
Palestinian fighters injure three Israeli soldiers in the southern part of the West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/13/2009
Three Israeli soldiers where injured on Tuesday at dawn when Palestinian fighters opened fire at them near the settlement of Kiryat Arba, located between the southern West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Hebron. Israeli media sources reported that the soldiers sustained light wounds and were moved to a hospital for treatment. No Palestinian resistance groups have clamed responciblity for the attack. The Settlement of Kiryat Arba is built on lands owned by the Palestinian farmers from Hebron and Bethlehem cities, it host one of the largest settler populations in the West Bank. [end]
Troops kidnap three Palestinians from several villages near Hebron
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/13/2009
The Israeli military attacked the village of Dura and Beit Ola, both located near the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday, and kidnapped three civilians. In Dura, Israeli troops searched and ransacked a number of homes, then kidnapped Jamal Hassan, age 30, and Taha Ghanam, age 26, and took then to unknown locations, local sources reported. Meanwhile, another force attacked and searches the home of Abed AL Fatah Al Amlah, age 34. After searching the home, troops took Al Amlah to an unknown location. Security sources in Hebon added that Israeli troops attacked and searched farmers’ homes in the villages of Al Thahria and Dir Samit, located near Hebron city. [end]
Soldier kills Palestinian gun-snatcher
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/13/2009
Palestinian man succumbs to wounds in Hebron hospital after being shot by guard at IDF base - Shot and killed: A Palestinian man attempted to steal a weapon from a soldier stationed south of Mount Hebron on Tuesday. The soldier shot the Palestinian and killed him. IDF soldiers present at the scene were not harmed. The incident occurred during a patrol conducted by reserve soldiers near Tarkumia. The soldiers spotted a Palestinian man attempting to cut the security fence and ordered him to stop. They then cuffed him and took him with them to the IDF outpost nearby. However, the man was able to free himself from the handcuffs and attempted to snatch the rifle of the soldier guarding the entrance to the base. The guard shot him in the stomach, mortally wounding him. IDF soldiers at the outpost treated the Palestinian at the scene of the incident. more.. e-mail
Three Israeli soldiers injured in Hebron; Al-Aqsa Brigades claim attack
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Hebron/ Bethlehem - Maan - Three Israeli soldiers were reported injured overnight Monday near the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank city of Hebron. The military said it believed the shots came from the Jabal Johar area, and a later statement from the Al-Aqsa Brigades in Hebron confirmed that fighters from the military faction fired the shots. According to a statement from the Brigades, affiliated with Fatah, The Israeli forces broke into the Jabal Johar area in Hebron and searched the area and then withdrew peacefully. They said they attacked the patrol car as a response to the ongoing Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip. There was a large increase in the number of Israeli troops in the West Bank since the Israeli attacks on Gaza began 18 days ago. While there have been dozens of demonstrations and clashes between youth and patrolling Israeli. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli troops raid houses in Salfit
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Salfit Maan Israeli troops invaded two houses in the town of Haris west of Salfit on Monday night and turned their roofs into military posts. Witnesses confirmed that the troops imposed a curfew on the town and searched the home of 21-year-old Ibrahim Shamlawi, shot by Israeli forces when he attempted to set fire to a fuel station near a West Bank settlement Thursday. Witnesses added that the troops have frequently put checkpoints around the town, accusing residents of throwing stones at soldiers. [end]
Israel says soldiers found bomb near Bethlehem road
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Bethlehem Maan Soldiers found an improvised explosive device on Tuesday evening near a road south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to an Israeli source. The charge was discovered near a tunnel road leading to Jerusalem on Tuesday, the source claimed, adding that Israeli soldiers found traces of other devices that appeared to have already been detonated, as well as a few Molotov cocktails. [end]
ISRAEL-OPT: Ashkelon empties, trauma teams struggle
Tamar Dressler/IRIN, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1/14/2009
ASHKELON, 13 January 2009 (IRIN) - The Israeli media is reporting that 40 percent of the residents of Ashkelon, near Gaza, left the city last weekend for the relative safety of northern towns, despite calls by Mayor Beni Vaknin for them to stay. When the Israeli offensive began on 27 December, Hamas rockets were directed at the bigger cities of southern Israel - Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beer Sheba - causing shock and anxiety. Sima, a mother of three, packed her girls into a car on 12 January. "We’re off to my parents, I can’t take another day here; my girls are traumatised. We’ll come back when this is all over," she told IRIN over the phone. At about the same time a Grad mortar landed in Ashkelon, demolishing a house but sparing the lives of the family inside. Sima had not been to work for two weeks. According to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre in Israel,. . . more.. e-mail
Shin Bet: Some 565 rockets, 200 mortar shells fired at Israel since start of Gaza op
Yanir Yanga and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 1/14/2009
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fired some 565 rockets and 200 mortar shells at southern Israel since the Israel Defense Forces launched its offensive on the Hamas-ruled coastal territory on December 27, the Shin Bet announced on Tuesday. According to the Shin Bet investigation, some 530 of the rockets were fired within the first 16 days of the operation. The Shin Bet estimated that another 35 were fired over the course of Monday and Tuesday, but did not include those numbers in its latest report. The report does not detail how many were long-range Katyushas, but various sources estimates they number about 10 percent of the total number of rockets fired. Some 5,700 rockets and another 4,000 mortar shells have been launched at Israel since the beginning of 2005, the Shin Bet said. more.. e-mail
Israeli war on Gaza claims 930 lives so far mostly civilians
Palestinian Information Center 1/13/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces’ war on Gaza Strip has entered its 18th day on Tuesday with the number of victims rising to 930 and the injured to 4300 the vast majority of whom are civilians. Dr. Muaiwya Hasanein, the director of ambulance and emergency in the health ministry, told the PIC on Tuesday that the martyrs included 286 children and 95 women. He added that the victims were mostly civilians in the light of the continued IOF shelling on densely populated residential areas. He noted that 375 of the wounded are in very serious conditions, and pointed out that the wounded included 1490 children and around 690 women. Hasanein said that 13 paramedics and doctors were killed in the IOF deliberate targeting of medical teams while 32 others were injured and 15 ambulance cars were destroyed along with a number of civil defense vehicles. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 011309
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 1/13/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 6 m 00s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www. imemc. org, for Tuesday, January 13th 2009. As the Israeli operation in Gaza enters its 18th day, the death toll in Gaza by Tuesday stands at 940, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has left 18 more Palestinians dead on Tuesday. The Ministry of Health stated that the death toll due to the continued Israeli attacks have reached 940, while the number of injured has reached 4,200; among the injured 470 are in critical condition. Of the 940 killed, hospital records demonstrate that 280 children, 98 women and 97 elderly people are among the dead. more.. e-mail
Gaza City pounded by Israeli air strikes, tank fire
Middle East Online 1/13/2009
GAZA CITY - Israeli troops and Palestinian resistance fighters fought fierce night-time clashes around Gaza on Tuesday, with Israeli tanks making their deepest incursion yet into districts of Gaza City, witnesses said. An army spokesman confirmed fighting in several areas, as Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip entered its 18th day, but he could not elaborate. Witnesses said Israeli special forces advanced into the southern Gaza City neighbourhood of Tal Al-Hawa after midnight (2200 GMT Monday) and were ambushed by Palestinian fighters. Subsequently, Israeli tanks pushed into the district and opened fire, supported by aerial bombing. Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said fighters had knocked out two Israeli tanks in Gaza City’s Zeitun neighbourhood with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), a claim denied by Israel. more.. e-mail
Rocket hits educational institute in Ashkelon
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/13/2009
Rocket fired from Gaza lands in grounds of educational institute in Ashkelon Tuesday afternoon; no injuries reported in attack. Eleven rockets, all short and medium range, land in Israel since morning hours - A rocket hit an educational institute in Ashkelon Tuesday afternoon, causing no injuries. Eleven rockets have been fired at the area since the morning hours, none of them long-range rockets. At about 2:45 pm three rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed in open fields near Sderot and in the Eshkol Regional Council. Shortly later a fourth rocket was fired on Ashkelon and exploded in an open area as well. Another five rockets exploded in open fields in Eshkol earlier in the day. No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks. more.. e-mail
Al-Mujhadein Brigades launch two shells as Israeli TV reports fewer projectiles
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Gaza - Maan - In a statement sent Tuesday morning the Al-Mujahideen Brigades, affiliated with Fatah, announced that they launched two projectiles at the Beeri area south west of Gaza City Monday night. The announcement comes amidst Israeli claims that the number of projectiles fired at the western Negev region has slowed since the start of the 18 day offensive targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades have continued to launch projectiles, as have dozens of other military wings of parties like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) Fatah, Islamic Jihad and several other smaller factions composed mostly of large family groups. more.. e-mail
Up to 20 projectiles fired from Gaza on Tuesday
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2009
Gaza Maan About 20 Palestinian homemade projectiles and rockets fell on Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Israeli officials reported. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades claimed responsibility for launching six projectiles and three mortar shells at areas around Gaza. One homemade projectile hit a house in the city of Ashkelon, on the coast north of Gaza. Another landed near a school in the city, causing damage to the building. Two projectiles hit open areas in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, two struck Eshkol Regional Council, and two hit near the town of Ofakim. No causalities were reported. [end]
Jail sentence for Arab stone-throwers
Ahiya Raved, YNetNews 1/13/2009
Three residents of northern village sentenced to jail terms for stoning cars - Zero tolerance for stone-throwing:Three residents of the northern village of Bir al-Machsur, just off Highway 79, were sentences to lengthy jail terms Tuesday after being convicted of stoning cars. Haifa District Court Judge Oded Gershon ruled that the court "must not be lenient on such offenses," and ordered sentences raging from 15 to 21 months. According to the indictment, Ibrahim Gadir (24), Rami Hujirat (23) and a minor who cannot be named stoned cars along Highway 79, damaging at least two of them. A plea bargain struck between the Haifa District Prosecution and the defense had the tree plead guilty to malicious endangerment - a felony carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years. The prosecution proceeded to present the court with statistics about stone-throwing incidents. . . more.. e-mail
Gaza rocket strikes Ashkelon home
Yanir Yagna, Ha’aretz 1/13/2009
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired 19 rockets at the western Negev yesterday, one of them scoring a direct hit on a home in the coastal city of Ashkelon. The house’s five residents managed to flee to a bomb shelter before the strike, so there were no casualties. A number of people were treated for shock. Another few rockets were also reported in Sderot and in the central Negev city of Be’er Sheva. Another rocket fired from Gaza exploded in an open field near Kiryat Gat, causing no casualties or damages. The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that there has been a dramatic drop in the ability of Hamas to launch rockets at Israel. The launches have dropped by 50 percent compared with the first day of Operation Cast Lead, 17 days ago. Bookmark to del. icio. usDigg It! From the bunker Hamas says Gaza won’t break, victory over Israel is near. more.. e-mail
The unreported battle with Hamas: psychological warfare
Nir Hasson and Yoav Stern, Ha’aretz 1/13/2009
Artillery barrages and aircraft missiles are not the only way Israel is communicating with the people of Gaza. Since the start of the conflict, the Israel Defense Forces has tried to wage psychological war on the civilian population. The most common methods include dropping fliers from the air, taking control of Hamas’ radio airwaves and sending mass SMS messages. The army often distributes leaflets warning residents against taking military action or fraternizing with Hamas operatives. The fliers are generally attributed to an ambiguous "IDF force commander" calling on residents to take responsibility for their own fate. They tell them that "rocket launchers and terror elements are a danger to you and your families. If you want to help, all you have to do is call this number and state the location of the rocket launchers and terror cells operating in your area. . . " more.. e-mail
Peres: The IDF has never been better trained, as sophisticated
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 1/13/2009
President Shimon Peres on Monday toured the army base at Zeelim and met with Israel Defense Forces reservists from the Paratrooper Brigade who are preparing to join the ground invasion in Gaza. Peres spoke with the soldiers after surveying a new training compound that simulates battle in residential neighborhoods such as those in Gaza. "I don’t think we have ever had an army better trained, organized and sophisticated than you," said Peres. "In 16 days, the IDF has done what no other state has done in 16 years? . There is a feeling that we have someone to depend on and that Israel’s deterrence power has returned, and I have come here on behalf of the nation to express deep gratitude for your accomplishments so far and to wish you luck during fighting. " Peres then held a frank discussion with the soldiers, who asked him questions. . . more.. e-mail
IDF soldier seriously hurt in Gaza, possibly by friendly fire
Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 1/13/2009
Four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded on Monday, one of them seriously, as Israeli forces pressed on into the 17th day of an offensive aimed at destroying Hamas terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. The four IDF paratroopers were wounded in an incident in northern Gaza, three of them sustaining minor injuries. The military launched an investigation into the incident, examining the possibility that they were wounded by IDF fire. Meanwhile Monday, a paratroopers unit uncovered a tunnel dug by Hamas militants in Gaza, apparently meant to transfer suicide bombers into Israel. The tunnel was dug from a house some 300 meters from the border fence. IDF forces destroyed the tunnel and paratroopers shot a female would-be suicide bomber who tried to harm the soldiers. more.. e-mail
Israeli reservists sent into Gaza
Al Jazeera 1/12/2009
Israel has confirmed sending thousands of army reservists into Gaza, raising concerns that a deadly "third stage" of its offensive - targeting urban centres - could soon begin. And as the offensive entered its 17th day on Monday, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Awad reported from the Israel-Gaza border that Israeli air craft had kept up a sustained bombardment all night and a huge explosion was witnessed over the northeastern part of strip. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said his troops were close to meeting their objectives in Gaza, but stopped short of giving a timeline for ending the conflict. The move to send in the reservists comes after Israel called up tens of thousands of its reserve force -- soldiers who had performed their mandatory military service but were no longer. . . more.. e-mail
3 troops lightly hurt by gunshots near Hebron
Efrat Weiss Published, YNetNews 1/13/2009
"Terrorists" open fire at military vehicle in Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba. IDF searches village of Jabel Johar, where gunshots are believed to have been fired from - Three Israel Defense Forces soldier were lightly injured Monday night from gunshots fired at a military vehicle in the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, near the West Bank city of Hebron. The three were evacuated to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem for medical treatment. The IDF began searching the Hebron village of Jabel Johar, where the gunshots are believed to have been fired from. An inquiry into the incident revealed that four troops had been sitting in an IDF jeep in Kiryat Arba’s industrial zone, when they were suddenly fired on from the village of Jabel Johar. Three of the soldiers were lightly hurt by shrapnel. The fourth soldier was treated at the Kiryat Arba clinic and was not evacuated to the hospital. more.. e-mail
Death toll in Gaza onslaught approaches 900
Daily Star 1/12/2009
Israel indicated for the first time on Sunday that an end was in sight to its war on the Gaza Strip, amid some of the heaviest clashes of an offensive that has killed nearly 900 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians. Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza’s main city, sparking some of the fiercest battles yet of the 16-day-old war Israel launched in what it said was a response to rocket fire, but which has failed to stop the rockets. Civilians again fell victim in Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian enclave, one of the world’s most densely populated places where every other person of the 1. 5