| News |  |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
| Conflict |
IDF kills 20 Palestinians in Gaza, W. Bank, including 5 children
Haaretz Staff and News Agencies, Ha’aretz 2/28/2008
Israeli security forces struck a range of targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing a total of 20 Palestinians, including five children. Meanwhile, militants in Gaza continued to fire rockets at southern Israel, striking as far north as Ashkelon. The deaths come a day after IDF troops killed 12 Palestinians and an Israeli was killed in a Qassam rocket strike on a college outside Sderot. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed that Israel’s response to the deadly barrage of Qassam rockets would be particularly harsh. Another Israeli airstrike late Thursday hit an electric company vehicle in Khan Younis, killing two workmen, medics said. The Israeli military said they hit a car carrying militants. Late Thursday, an Israel Air Force missile strike hit an electric company vehicle in Khan Yunis, killing two workmen, medics said. more..
Israeli forces bomb and destroy the main Medical Relief building in Gaza City
Palestine News Network 2/28/2008
The PMRS head office was housing the main PMRS clinic in the Gaza Strip, the main pharmacy, an ambulance, a loan centre for handicapped people and all the administrative offices. The ambulance, all the medicine and most of the equipment have been destroyed. The building itself is badly damaged and cannot be used again without extensive repairs. The attack also hit a nearby residential building, killing five month old Mohamad Nasser Al Borey in his family home. Palestinian Legislative Council member and President of the PMRS, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, declared "the collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza reached unbearable levels. This latest attack destroyed a key part of the already badly hit Gazan health system. Israel has lost all sense of humanity, and the silence of the international community enables its murderous escalation against a people imprisoned in a giant jail." more..
Death toll in Gaza reaches 27
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 2/28/2008
Palestinian medical sources reported on Thursday evening that Rami Khalifah 25 died of wounds he received during earlier Israeli shelling of Gaza city. Meanwhile Amjad Al Sakani, 12, was found dead after being shot by the Israeli army in Rafah city in the southern part of the Gaza strip. On Thursday evening one Palestinian civilian was killed and another four injured when Israeli jet fighters shelled a police station in Gaza city. Four Palestinian children were killed and one critically injured when Israeli jet fighters shot several missiles at civilians in Jabalia town, located in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday afternoon. Medical sources identified the four as, Mohamed Hamudah, 7, Ali Dardonah, 8, Omer Dardonah, 14, and his brother Deib, 11. Palestinian sources also reported that a separate air raid targeted a civilian vehicle in Beit Hanoun, also in the northern part of the Strip. more..
Teenage Egyptian Bedouin girl shot to death near Israeli border
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 2/29/2008
A teenage Bedouin girl was fatally shot on Thursday in the Sinai Peninsula near Egypt’s border with Israel, an Egyptian security official and medics said. The girl, identified as 12-year-old Samah Nayyef Abu Garad, was hit in the head by a bullet, eyewitnesses and the security official said. "She was shot by a stray bullet from the other side of the border (Israel), due to the ongoing fighting today between the Palestinians and Israelis," the Egyptian security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. A witness said Abu Garad was shot while standing near her home in the village of Umm Ammad, about 400 meters from the Israeli-controlled border point of Kerem Shalom and close to the Gaza Strip. Imad Kharboush, head of the emergency unit at el-Arish hospital,... more..
Children killed in new Israeli raid
Al Jazeera 2/28/2008
An Israeli missile attack has killed at least two Palestinian youngsters playing football in the Gaza Strip, during an intensified Israeli military operation that has left at least 22 people dead since Wednesday. Medics said the youths, all under the age of 16, were killed in an Israeli air assault in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday. They said another child was severely injured while playing in a field in the town of JabaliyaIn an earlier raid, Israel killed three Palestinian fighters. Hospital officials said a fighter from Hamas and two from the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) group were killed on Thursday. Two fighters from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades were also killed by Israeli air raids in Nablus , in the occupied West Bank on Thursday. The Israeli military confirmed the attack, saying they hit command posts and weapons manufacturing and storing sites. more..
IOF troops kill five Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza and Nablus
Palestinian Information Center 2/28/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- The IOF troops killed at dawn Thursday five Palestinian fighters three of them during air strikes on east of the Shujaia neighborhood in Gaza and the other two during clashes with invading IOF troops in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus; whereas, a Palestinian child was proclaimed dead after he sustained wounds during an earlier Israeli strike on Gaza. With these new deaths, the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation during 24 hours rose to 17 victims including four children one of them a five-month-old baby. In Gaza, Palestinian security and medical sources announced on the same day the death of Luay Qunaita, a fighter of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and the injury of another after they were targeted by Israeli warplanes east of Shujaia. Another Israeli air strike on Shujaia in Gaza killed two Palestinian fighters affiliated... more..
IDF kills 5 gunmen in Gaza, Nablus
Ali Waked, YNetNews 2/28/2008
Three armed Palestinians killed in army strike in northern Gaza’s Sajaiya neighborhood early Thursday morning. IDF forces operating in Nablus’ Balata refugee camp kill two other militants, local sources report - Three Palestinian gunmen were killed early Thursday in an IDF strike in the Gaza neighborhood of Sajaiya. Two of the men killed belonged to the Popular Resistance Committees’ military wing and the third was a Hamas militant. Palestinian sources reported that another gunman was wounded in the strike. An IDF spokesman said that army forces operated against armed militants in the northern Gaza Strip. Later Thursday, the IDF struck a Qassam launching cell near the town of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. Shortly after the strike, three Qassams were fired from Gaza and landed in open fields in Israel’s western Negev region. more..
Olmert threatens to assassinate Hamas political leaders
Palestinian Information Center 2/28/2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli premier Ehud Olmert has threatened to assassinate the Hamas Movement’s political leaders, adding that "no one was immune". Olmert, who is currently visiting Japan, described the situation in the south of occupied Palestine as a real war because of the Palestinian resistance’s missiles fired at Israeli targets adjacent to the Gaza Strip in response to Israeli atrocities. Hebrew press reported that Israeli war minister Ehud Barak telephoned Olmert and informed him of the IOF attacks on the Palestinian people and discussed with him means of retaliating to the killing of an IOF soldier in Sderot. Meanwhile, a senior IOF officer said on Wednesday evening that his forcers would react strongly to the killing of the soldier and to the continued fall of Qassam missiles on Sderot and western Negev. more..
Israel vows unprecedented response
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 2/29/2008
A senior defense official said last night that the Israeli response to the rocket fire on Sderot and Ashkelon is expected to be particularly harsh, and that Israel does not intend to let pass Hamas’ decision to escalate its offensive measures. Late last night, Israeli jets blasted a government building in Gaza. Palestinian health officials said a baby was killed in the attack, and 30 people were injured. Witnesses said the building was empty. The IDF said all targets that were attacked were centers of terrorist activity. Military sources told Haaretz that in the next few weeks the IDF will complete its preparations for a major ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. However, they added that the final decision on a wide-scale incursion is in the hands of the government, and no decision has been made yet. Discussion over entering Gaza ratcheted up yesterday following the death... more..
Barak: Wide ground operation in Gaza is ’real and tangible’
Amos Harel and Barak Ravids and Reuters, Ha’aretz 2/28/2008
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday that a large scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip is a "real and tangible" response to the escalation of violence in southern Israel, with Gaza militants firing an unusually high number of Qassam and Grad rockets into Ashkelon, Sderot and western Negev communities in recent days. Barak spoke one day after a 47-year-old college student was killed outside Sderot as some 50 rockets pounded southern Israel. "We must prepare for continued escalation," the defense minister said. "We are not eager [to carry out a large-scale ground operation in Gaza], and not shying away from it," the defense minister said. "There is a wide range of considerations regarding the timing, which we can’t share with the public or with Hamas." more..
News in Brief
Ha’aretz 2/29/2008
Dozens of public shelters in Sderot are to open partially today to allow residents to take cover during Qassam attacks. The shelters, which have been renovated for long-term stays, have remained locked because of concerns over vandalism, residents and security officials told visiting deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai yesterday. Vilnai ordered the shelters opened so residents could take cover in their entrance hallways. However, the main rooms will be opened only in case long-term stays are needed. (Yuval Azoulay) The Knesset’s Finance Committee demanded increased funding for the Sapir College in Sderot, including student scholarships in a debate yesterday, before a student was killed near the college campus. College directors headed by Professor Zeev Tzahor and student representatives pushed for full scholarships in view of the security situation. more..
Hamas response / Calculated escalation
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 2/29/2008
Hamas responded Wednesday to the assassination of five of its operatives in Khan Yunis with an "object lesson" of some of the means at its disposal. Sderot and the Negev communities came under a murderous barrage of more than 40 Qassam rockets, killing one student at the Sapir College and injuring a number of other people. Ashkelon, a target Hamas strikes less frequently, suffered a number of rockets that managed to disrupt some of the city’s electricity. Ashkelon has been attacked at least five times in the past by long-range Katyushas and Qassams. But until now the rockets have fallen in open areas or the city’s southern suburbs. Wednesday’s rocket, which fell near the city’s Barzilai Medical Center, was a harsh illustration of the fact that tens of thousands more Israelis are now in range of Hamas fire. more..
Two fighters killed in Balata refugee camp
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 2/28/2008
Palestinian sources reported that two Palestinian fighters were shot and killed on Thursday at dawn during armed clashes with Israeli forces that invaded Balata refugee camp, east of the city of Nablus. Two other fighters were injured and abducted by the army. The two slain fighters were identified as Maher Abu Al Reesh from Balata refugee camp, a member of the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and Ahmad Al Nadi from Askar refugee camp, a member of the Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of President Abbas’ Fatah party. The bodies of the two deceased were moved to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, while the two injured fighters were kidnapped and transferred to an unknown destination. The invading military bulldozed some of the road surfaces and infrastructure in the Market Street area, in addition to demolishing doors and awnings of several stores. more..
Two Al-Aqsa Brigades members killed in Balata camp
Ma’an News Agency 2/28/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Two Palestinian activists affiliated to Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades were killed on Thursday morning as fierce clashes erupted between Palestinian resistance fighters and Israeli forces in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus in the northern West Bank. Sources within the Al-Aqsa Brigades told Ma’an’s reporter that 28-year-old Mahir Abu Ar-Reish and 35-year-old Ahmad An-Nadi were killed and 30-year-old Muhammad Abu Arab wasinjured and arrested. Furthermore, 30-year-old Ahmad Abu ’Isha was injured in a two-hour bout of fierce clashes between Israeli forces and a number of Al-Aqsa Brigades fighters. The sources added that some of the fighters lhad eft the Palestinian security headquarters in Nablus after an undercover Israeli targeted it killing Ibrahim Al-Masimi and injuring four others. Eyewitnesses said that a large Israeli force invaded Balata camp early... more..
IDF pounds Gaza; scores hurt
Ali Waked, YNetNews 2/28/2008
Army launches relentless strikes on Gaza targets; at least 13 Palestinians killed Thursday. Night attacks target vehicles, buildings; Palestinians say ’Israelis realize their defeat, target civilians’ - IDF pounds Gaza targets: At least four Palestinians were killed in IDF strikes in the Gaza Strip Thursday night, Palestinian sources reported. The latest attacks brought the number of Palestinians killed in the Strip Thursday to 13. Around 11:10 pm, the Palestinians reported that many civilians were hurt in an attack on the Palestinian Workers’ Union in the northern Strip. According to the report, a 2-month-old baby was critically hurt. Earlier, two Palestinians were killed in a strike on a truck traveling next to the Shifa hospital in the Strip, the Palestinians said. The sources said the truck was transporting soft drinks, but the identity of those killed is unknown at this time. more..
Palestinian military groups launch barrages of homemade projectiles towards Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 2/28/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The military wing affiliated to Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades launched a barrage of 35 homemade projectiles towards Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening. Thirteen of the projectiles were fired at the Israeli town of Sderot and the rest landed in other the towns of Miftahim, Kfar Azza and Kissufim. Meanwhile, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said their fighters launched two homemade projectiles at near the western Negev. Separately, Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades and Abu Ar-Rish Brigades claimed responsibility for launching four homemade projectiles at Sderot. The Brigades said in separate statements that their action came in retaliation for Israeli atrocities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israeli media sources confirmed on Wednesday evening that a barrage... more..
VIDEO - Grad lands near Ashkelon school
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 2/28/2008
(Video) Girl lightly wounded in latest rocket barrage; Defense Minister Barak orders ’Red Color’ alert to be employed in southern town of Ashkelon as well. More than 30 rockets fired at southern communities Thursday - VIDEO - Residents of the southern city of Ashkelon experienced one of their toughest days since rockets from Gaza started hitting the town. Single rockets were fired at the city in the past, but on Thursday a total of 10 rockets hit the city, leaving growing anxiety in their wake. Two long-range Grad rockets fired from the northern Strip Thursday evening hit Ashkelon, with one of the rockets landing near a school in the center of town. a 17-year-old girl suffered light shrapnel wounds in the latest attack and several other people suffered from anxiety. More than 30 Qassam and Grad rockets were fired from Gaza at southern Israel throughout the day. more..
VIDEO - Qassams pound Sderot; 2 lightly injured
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 2/28/2008
(VIDEO) Rocket fire on western Negev continues throughout Thursday; officer on Minister Dichter’s security detail, 70-year-old Sderot resident lightly wounded by shrapnel in Qassam attacks. Meanwhile, IDF kills son of senior Hamas commander in Gaza - VIDEO - The Qassam fire on Israel’s western Negev continued uninterrupted throughout Thursday, a day after a student at Sderot’s Sapir College was killed in a rocket attack. Two people were lightly wounded in the attacks, while several others suffered shock. A raw-materials factory in Sderot’s industrial area sustained a direct Qassam hit. A fire broke on the premises and firefighters were sent to the place to extinguish it. A Qassam fired from northern Gaza landed near the college Thursday morning, wounding an officer belonging to Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter’s protection detail. more..
Shin Bet arrests female terror suspect, 17, from East J’lem
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 2/28/2008
The Shin Bet security service on Thursday announced that a 17 year-old female resident of East Jerusalem was recently arrested for attempting to carry out a suicide attack in Israel. The suspect was arrested three weeks ago for reportedly meeting with leaders of the Islamic Jihad, where she voiced her hatred of Jews as well as her intention to carry out a suicide bombing attack within Israel. The Jerusalem Magistrates Court on Thursday extended the suspect’s remand by three additional days, while two other activists of the Islamic Jihad from East Jerusalem were also arrested. [end]
Female terror suspect detained; Jerusalem bombing averted
Aviram Zino, YNetNews 2/28/2008
Shin Bet arrests 17-year-old girl; would-be bomber says she was motivated by hatred for Jews - Terror attack thwarted: The Shin Bet has detained a Palestinian girl from a village near Jerusalem about three weeks ago on suspicion that she planned to carry out a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. The story was only cleared for publication Thursday. Security officials suspect that the young woman sought to join Islamic Jihad in order to carry out the attack, which was already in planning stages. The suspect, a 17-year-old girl from the village of Abu Tur, south of Jerusalem, was detained after the Shin Bet received intelligence information about her intentions. The girl’s interrogation revealed that she turned to Islamic Jihad members several months ago with the purpose of joining the group and carrying out a terror attack in the Jerusalem area. more..
Defense Min. orders rocket alert sirens be activated in Ashkelon
Mijal Grinberg, and Agencies, Ha’aretz 2/28/2008
Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided Thursday to employ the "Color Red" alert system, a siren that warns of incoming rockets, in the southern city of Ashkelon. This decision came after 10 Grad rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, some 15 kilometers south of Ashkelon, pounded the port town on Thursday. One of the rockets directly hit a home and several people were wounded in the barrages. The alert system is already in place in the Qassam battered western Negev city of Sderot. The system was also installed in Ashkelon in preparation for wide ranging rocket attacks, but it was never activated. The Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command announced later Thursday that the system would be activated in Ashkelon on Friday, in all likelihood. The Home Front Command and the Ashkelon municipality explained earlier this week... more..
Ongoing Israeli raids on Gaza claim 28 Palestinians, including 8 children and 5-month-old baby
Ma’an News Agency 2/28/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – One Palestinian has been killed and three others injured in a raid against a police station in the west of Gaza City. The station is located next to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s house. Dr. Mu’awiya Hassanain, head of emergency and ambulance services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, said that ambulances transferred the dead body and the casualties to a hospital in Gaza. Four Palestinian children were killed in an Israeli air raid in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday afternoon, bringing the number of those killed in the Gaza Strip to 28 in the last 24 hours. Eight of the dead are children. Mu’awiya Hasanain said the bodies of 11-year-old Deib Darduna and 14-year-old ’Umar Darduna arrived at the Kamal Udwan hospital in Beit Hanoun torn to pieces. more..
Israeli military kidnaps 8 Palestinians in Jenin
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 2/28/2008
Israeli forces invaded two villages in the northern West Bank district of Jenin, kidnapping eight Palestinians in the early hours of Thursday morning. Local sources reported that troops in several military vehicles invaded Siliat Al Harthiya, west of Jenin, and carried out a large-scale search operation in civilians’ homes. Among the six abducted were Tal’at Shawahna, 21, Fadi Zayoud, 18, and Mohammad Jaradat, 24. In the town of Jaba’a, south of Jenin, troops kidnapped two Palestinians after attacking their homes. They were identified as Farahat ’Alawna, 25, and Mohammad Ghannam, 22. All eight were transferred to an unknown detention center. Following Israeli operations in the area on Wednesday, there have now been 15 Palestinians abducted by the Israeli military form the Jenin area in the last two days. more..
An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades clash with undercover Israeli force
Ma’an News Agency 2/28/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees(PRC), the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades said on Wednesday evening that a group of their militants clashed with an undercover Israeli force at the town of Khuza’a east of Khan Younis. They said in a statement, "Israeli helicopters flew over the area which indicates there were casualties amongst the Israeli soldiers." The statement added that the operation came in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli aggression on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Palestinian security arrest 3 Hamas affiliates in West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 2/28/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Hamas said on Thursday that the Palestinian security services affiliated to the Fatah-led caretaker government based in the West Bank arrested three Hamas members on Wednesday evening. The statement said that one of the arrestees is Sheikh Aziz Fattash from Salfit in the northern West Bank. Another Hamas affiliate was arrested in the village of Jamma’in north of Salfit. In Qalqilia in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian security arrested a university student. [end]
Israeli war planes fire missile at agricultural land
Ma’an News Agency 2/28/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli war planes fired a missile in the Ad-Dabour area east of Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Eyewitnesses reported the sound of a large explosion and described seeing smoke and flames where the missile landed. Palestinian medical sources confirmed that the raid targeted an agricultural area and that there was no information regarding any injuries. [end]
Two injured at Al-Qassam training ground
Ma’an News Agency 2/28/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Two Palestinians were injured during an Israeli air raid on a training site for members of the Hamas affiliated Al-Qassam brigades, in the area of Tal Az-Za’tar in the Gaza Strip Eyewitnesses reported the warplanes bombed and destroyed the entire site. Ambulances transferred the injured to hospital as medical sources reported no fatalities. [end]
Israeli forces arrest 12 Palestinians across West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 2/28/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces apprehended 12 Palestinians, who are allegedly activists, after raiding several West Bank cities on Thursday morning, Hebrew sources said. The sources said the arrestees were from cities and villages in Jenin and Nablus in the northern West Bank and Ramallah in the central West Bank. [end]
Two brothers kidnapped in Ramallah by Israeli army
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 2/28/2008
Israeli forces kidnapped two brothers in a pre-dawn invasion of Beit Uniya, west of Ramallah on Thursday. In the same operation, the Israeli army invaded several neighborhoods in the central West Bank city of Ramallah and patrolled the area, but with no further abductions reported. [end]
’Dead terrorists’ resurface in Egypt
Ali Waked, YNetNews 2/28/2008
Palestinians initially featured in terror tape in wake of Dimona bombing imprisoned by Cairo - Mystery solved: The two Palestinians who were initially said to have carried out the recent terror attack in the southern town of Dimona are alive and well in an Egyptian prison, Ynet has learned. The attack, which occurred about three weeks ago, claimed the life of one woman and wounded 10 people. A short time after the bombing, two groups claimed responsibility for the attack: the Popular Front’s Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades and the Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. The two groups also published a videotape featuring the two supposed suicide bombers. In the tape, the two Gaza men indicate that they intend to blow themselves up in Israel. However, a short while later Israeli security officials raised doubts regarding the bombers’ identity, after photographs of the Dimona bombing site failed to match the videotape. more..
Hamas leader ’thanks God’ for son’s death
News agencies, YNetNews 2/28/2008
’This is the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom,’ says proud Hamas lawmaker after his son was killed while en route to fire rockets at Israeli towns. IDF strikes in Gaza continue as situation escalates, troops target Hamas outpost 150 yards from Haniyeh’s home - Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya fondly kissed the bloodied head of his son Hamza in a Gaza morgue Thursday, saying he was proud that his son had given his life for the Hamas cause and joined a long line of family members killed in the conflict with Israel. Hamza died in an Israeli air strike Thursday morning as he led a squad firing rockets against Israeli towns, Hamas said. ’’I thank God for this gift,’’ Khalil al-Haya said. ’’This is the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom. ’’ Al-Haya has himself escaped attempts on his life, including an Israeli strike last... more..
Palestine Today 022808
Ghassan Bannoura- Audio dept, International Middle East Media Center 2/28/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 4 m 0s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Thursday February 28th, 2008. Eleven Palestinians have been killed due to the Israeli army bombardment of the Gaza Strip, while in the West Bank; the Israeli army killed two Palestinians in Nablus city. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast Three Palestinian children were killed, and one critically injured, when Israeli jet fighters shot several missiles at a group of civilians in Jabalia town, located in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday afternoon. On Thursday at midday, two Palestinians were also killed during attacks targeting the northern Gaza Strip. Medical sources identified one of the deceased as Abdullah Al Zwidi, 23, believed to be a member of the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement. more..
Israeli planes kill 10 in Gaza after deadly rocket strike
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 2/28/2008
GAZA CITY: Ten Palestinians, including at least six militants, were killed in Israeli air strikes Wednesday, while Palestinians rockets killed an Israeli in a spate of attacks in and around the Gaza Strip. The fresh violence came the day after the UN urged Egypt, Israel and the Palestinians to find a fresh strategy to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip and halt rocket firing into Israel. The deadliest attack occurred in the southern Gazan town of Khan Yunis where five Hamas fighters were killed in a raid which also wounded one civilian, medical sources told AFP. It was followed by a second strike on the same site that left three people wounded, the sources added. Another militant from the armed wing of the radical Islamic Jihad movement was killed overnight in an air strike in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources said. more..
A bloody day in Gaza: Israeli military adds 3 children to list of dead
Ma’an News Agency 2/27/2008
Gaza-Ma’an- Three Palestinian children were killed and six injured in an Israeli air strike on Wednesday evening, in the Al Taw’am area close to the Khazandar gas station, north of Gaza City. The total number of Palestinians injured was 17, including the six children. Dr. Mu’awiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry, said that ambulances transported the injured and dead children, including the headless body of a child, to the Shifa’ and Kamal hospital. He added that five children were rushed to the intensive care unit and the operating room, with one clinically dead. Witnesses said that those involved were passing by a local-made missile launcher that was struck by the Israeli forces. Earlier in the day, two Palestinians were killed and two others injured when Israeli artillery targeted an orange grove in the Ash-Shuja’iyya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City. more..
Rocket kills student in Sderot
Globes correspondent, Globes Online 2/27/2008
20 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed in the Western Negev area today. One person was killed and another was wounded today when a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hits Sapir College in the southern Israeli town of Sderot. Five people were treated for shock. The person killed, a man aged about 30, left a classroom and was walking towards the car park of the college when the rocket struck. A Magen David Adom paramedic described the scene to Galei Tzahal (Israel Army Radio). "I arrived there in my intensive care vehicle and found a man of about 30 very severely hurt, unconscious, in a critical state. We tried to revive him, but in the end he was pronounced dead on the spot." Studies at the college were suspended and many students left. The heads of the college will review the situation this evening, but one of them said, "Since the college has been under fire for a long time, people know what to do when there’s a warning of an attack. more..
Israeli siege on Tulkarem itensifies
Ma’an News Agency 2/27/2008
Tulkarem – Ma’an - Israeli forces intensified military and security measures in the northern West Bank district of Tulkarem on Wednesday, preventing Palestinians from crossing through the Jbara checkpoint south of the city. Ma’an’s reporter quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the Israeli soldiers manning the checkpoint are using oppressive measures, detaining people for long hours. Our reporter added that the Israeli forces erected a flying checkpoint on Wednesday morning at the entrance to Al-Jarushiya village north of Tulkarem, hindering contiguity with the northern Tulkarem district. At the beginning of February Israeli forces closed all entrances leading to Tulkarem, and erected many barriers, especially near Al-Quds University in the city. The Israeli military forces crippling closure on the city and its surrounding areas has continued for more than three weeks. more..
Israeli air strike hits Haniyeh’s Gaza office, baby killed
News agencies, YNetNews 2/27/2008
Air Force strikes Hamas leader’s office, nearby Interior Ministry in response to deadly Qassam attack at Sapir College; six-month-old Palestinian baby killed, more than 30 wounded. Earlier three Palestinians children killed in Israeli aerial attack - Israeli aircraft struck the empty office of Gaza’s Hamas premier Ismail Haniyeh and nearby premises of his Interior Ministry Wednesday night, killing a baby and wounding more than 30 other people, Palestinians said. Health officials said the 6-month-old baby was hit by shrapnel from the attack. His family lived near the Interior Ministry building in a Gaza neighborhood. The airstrike came hours after rocket attacks from Gaza killed an Israeli student in the southern border town of Sderot. Hamas security officials said missiles fired from helicopters hit the buildings, sited in downtown residential neighborhoods,... more..
Leftover cluster bomb suspected in another blast in southern Lebanon
DPA, Ha’aretz 2/27/2008
An explosion late Wednesday near a mosque in a Shiite village in southern Lebanon wounded at least four people, Lebanese police said. The blast occurred in the village of Chabiyeh east of the southern port city of Tyre. In Beirut, the press office for the Shiite militia Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, said that blast was from a bomb dropped during the July 2006 war with Israel. "It wasn’t a bomb that was planted today," a source in the office said. Lebanese police cordoned off the blast area and started an investigation. Israel launched a 33-day war against Hezbollah in July 2006, during which many cluster bombs were dropped over southern Lebanon. Since the war ended, 30 people have been killed by explosions of leftover munitions, mostly cluster bombs. more..
Israeli forces raid Al-Fari’a refugee camp; clash with local youths
Ma’an News Agency 2/27/2008
Tubas – Ma’an – Israeli forces raided Al-Fari’a refugee camp north east of Nablus in the northern West Bank and besieged several houses under the pretext of searching for ’wanted’ activists. Meanwhile, Palestinian young men hurled stones and empty bottles at the invading forces. No injuries or arrests have been reported. The Israeli forces withdrew before dawn and came back two hours later and besieged the home of Muhammad Sarhan in an attempt to arrest his son who is allegedly a ’wanted activist. ’ New clashes erupted between the invading forces and Palestinian youths until the Israeli forces withdrew without apprehending any body. [end]
Eight Palestinians, Israeli killed in Gaza unrest
Middle East Online 2/27/2008
Eight Palestinians, including at least six militants, were killed in Israeli air strikes Wednesday and an Israeli was killed by a Palestinian rocket in a spate of attacks across the Gaza Strip. The fresh violence came the day after the United Nations urged Egypt, Israel and the Palestinians to find a fresh strategy to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip and halt rocket firing into Israel. Five Hamas fighters were killed in a raid on the southern town of Khan Yunis, which also wounded one person, medical sources said. It was followed by a second strike on the same site that left three people wounded, the sources added. An army spokeswoman confirmed that the military had "carried out strikes on vehicles in Khan Yunis and identified hitting them." Another militant from the armed wing of the radical Islamic Jihad movement was killed overnight in an air strike in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Palestinian medical sources said. more..
IOF missile raid kills 5 Qassam members
Palestinian Information Center 2/27/2008
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-- Five members of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas Movement, were killed on Wednesday in an IOF missile raid that targeted their bus in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip. Medical sources in the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis city said that a sixth Qassam member was critically injured and was undergoing surgery in the hospital. Eyewitnesses said that an IOF Apache fired two missiles at the bus directly hitting it, and added that IOF Apaches fired at another vehicle in the vicinity of the first one but no casualties were reported. The interior ministry in the PA caretaker government denounced the new Israeli bloodbath, saying that anyone hinging hopes on peace with the "Zionists" was dreaming. Ehab Al-Ghussain, the ministry’s spokesman, urged PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to end his "absurd negotiations" with the Hebrew state and to return to the embrace of his people and its resistance project. more..
Gaza: Palestinian killed in IDF strike
Ali Waked, YNetNews 2/27/2008
Sources in Strip say man killed by Israel Air Force missile; army says targeted rocket-launching cell - One Palestinian was killed during an Israel Air Force missile strike in Gaza, sources in the Strip reported Wednesday afternoon. According to the report, an aircraft launched a missile at a group of Palestinians near the former Civil Administration building in the Jabalya area. The victim’s identity has yet to be revealed. The IDF confirmed that it had attacked a rocket-launching cell in northern Gaza. According to military sources, the cell was behind the latest Qassam barrage on Sderot, but could not say whether it had launched the rocket that killed an Israeli student at Sapir College. Earlier Five members of Hamas’ military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, were killed after an IDF aircraft fired missiles at a bus and another vehicle carrying the group’s operatives west of the Gaza town of Khan Younis. more..
47-year-old man killed in Qassam attack
Ynet reporters, YNetNews 2/27/2008
Over 40 rockets fired from Gaza on Wednesday, hitting factories, homes and a hospital. Sapir College Student Union who lost peer slam prime minister for failing to stop attacks while Meretz party calls for dialogue with Hamas. Olmert, still in Japan, briefed by defense minister on situation - Over 40 rockets were fired by Palestinian groups from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel on Wednesday afternoon. During one of the barrages an Israeli college student was killed after a rocket landed in a parking lot adjacent to the Sapir College campus. Medics alerted to the scene also treated two more Israelis for minor wounds. The victim, Roni Yechiah, 47, reportedly died shortly after sustaining massive wounds to his chest. Yechiah, a father of four from the community of Bitcha near Ofakim, underwent a kidney transplant operation in the United States five years ago. more..
Israel, Hamas violence spikes on Gaza border
Nidal al-Mughrabi, ReliefWeb 2/27/2008
GAZA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A rocket launched from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip killed a man in Israel on Wednesday, the first such fatality in nine months, after Israeli forces killed eight Palestinians, most of them militants, in the territory. The rocket attack, claimed by Hamas, seemed certain to increase public pressure on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to order tougher military action in the Gaza Strip, including a possible widescale ground operation. Mounting violence could complicate peace talks between Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, negotiations which the United States hope can lead to a statehood deal this year. "Israel will take the necessary steps to bring these lethal rocket attacks to an end. Those attacking us will be confronted by an Israel that is compelled to defend itself, and that is how we shall proceed," said David Baker, a government spokesman. more..
Israeli undercover force kill one Palestinian in Nablus
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 2/27/2008
A special undercover unit of the Israeli army invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday morning, killing one, wounding three and kidnapping five,local sources reported. Eyewitnesses stated that troops disguised as vegetable traders drove a truck into the city. Troops opened fire at a Palestinian security office in Nablus city as five resistance fighters of the Al Aqsa brigades the armed wing of Fatah were leaving it. The five fighters were injured, then taken political prisoner by the undercover force. The Israeli army later announced the death of Ibraheem al-Masemi, 25, one of those injured previously. He was handed over to Palestinian ambulance crews at a nearby military checkpoint. Dr. Ghassan Hamdan of the Palestinian Medical Relief Services in Nablus told IMEMC that the troops prevented local medics from attending t the injured and forced the ambulance back. more..
QB threatens retaliation to bloodbath as Qassams kill settler
Palestinian Information Center 2/27/2008
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas Movement, on Wednesday charged that the IOF bloodbath earlier today in Gaza reflected that it was not interested in calm with the Palestinians. Abu Obaida, the QB spokesman, said that the IOF murder of five QB members near Khan Younis at a time when missile firing was on downward spiral indicated that Israeli occupation was not concerned with calm. The QB would study the appropriate reprisal to the IOF crime and its retaliation would be made in the opportune time and place. Meanwhile, the QB declared responsibility for firing a barrage of locally made Qassam missiles that slammed into the Israeli settlement of Sderot north of the Gaza Strip and Miftahim settlement. Hebrew media report said that an Israeli man was killed and two others sustained minor wounds while a few were treated for shock in Sderot. more..
Al-Aqsa gunman killed in Nablus operation
Ali Waked, YNetNews 2/27/2008
Special forces in pursuit of several gunmen in West Bank city seriously wound two Fatah operatives, evacuate them to Israel for treatment. One dies of his wounds. Two additional wanted men lightly wounded - Two Palestinian gunmen belonging to the al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, were seriously wounded on Wednesday morning by Israeli counterterrorism forces in the West Bank city of Nablus. Two additional wanted men were lightly wounded. The four wounded men were evacuated to an Israeli hospital for treatment, where one of the seriously wounded gunmen died shortly afterwards. The fifth member of the group was taken for questioning. Defense officials said the force gave chase after five wanted gunmen, called on them to halt and opened fire at them when they failed to comply. One of the men was armed with a handgun. more..
Nablus terror cell operated from PA housing
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 2/27/2008
Israel says cell apprehended in West Bank was planning to carry out attack in coming days, claims Palestinian security troops entrusted with detaining cell allowed them complete freedom of movement. Gunman killed in arrest operation had dispatched suicide bomber to Israel in 2003 - Defense officials said on Wednesday that the wanted gunman killed by security forces in Nablus earlier in the day is a senior-ranking Tanzim leader named Ibrahim Masyami. The 23-year-old was killed during a joint IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police operation to arrest a Tanzim cell planning to carry out a terror attack in Israel in the coming days. Three other gunmen were wounded in the arrest raid and a fourth was taken in for questioning. The men were meant to have been under the custody of the Palestinian Authority but were apparently allowed to move freely within Nablus. more..
Sderot boy injured by rocket to undergo further operations
Mijal Grinberg, Ha’aretz 2/27/2008
The 10-year-old Sderot boy who was wounded Monday when fragments of a Qassam rocket struck his shoulder remains in serious condition, doctors at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon said Tuesday, and he has been put into isolation due to fear of infection. Yossi Haimov is slated to undergo another operation for shoulder bone reconstruction once his situation improves. The doctors are planning to wait at least two days to decide when they will be able to operate. Since Haimov’s hospitalization, his family has been staying at a hotel in Ashkelon and spending most of the time in the hospital. Haimov’s sister Maria walked back and forth Tuesday between her brother’s hospital bed and her mother and aunt, who were maintaining a vigil in a nearby waiting area. Asked whether she wanted to return to Sderot, a stony-faced Maria merely shook her head no. more..
Israeli army kills seven Palestinians in under 24 hours
Rami Almeghari&Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 2/27/2008
Both medical sources and eyewitnesses reported that five resistance fighters members of the Al-Qassam Brigades have been killed, with three others wounded in two Israeli air strikes early Wednesday morning. Medics have confirmed that four of those killed were from the Jabalia refugee camp north of the Gaza Strip, while the fifth came from the southern city of Khan Younis. Three others were also wounded in the missile attack. Eyewitnesses saw, a civilian car driving along Mawasi agricultural road in Khan Younis city. Two missiles were shot from an Israeli Apache helicopter directly at the vehicle. It is believed that those inside the car were killed instantly. The Al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the ruling Hamas party in Gaza identified the victims as their own , and stated that the attack was a Israeli targeted assassination. more..
One Al-Aqsa Brigades activists killed; 3 injured in Israeli undercover raid in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 2/27/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Undercover Israeli forces apprehended four Palestinian men in Nablus in the northern West Bank on Wednesday. Eyewitnesses told Ma’an’s reporter that he saw a number of undercover Israeli soldiers getting out of a minibus at Tel Street in western Nablus. They approached a Palestinian taxi and opened fire on its four occupants. The injured occupants were then abducted by the soldiers. Ma’an learned that the abductees were 25-year-old Ibrahim Al-Masimi, 27-year-old Wa’il Al-Masimi, 20-year-old Yasir Al-Masimi and 21-year-old Ali ’Isha , 20-year-old Ibrahim Al-Jibrini. The eyewitnesses affirmed that they saw the abductees bleeding after they were hit. Israeli authorities later reported that Later on, the Israeli authorities told the Palestinian authority that Ibrahim Al-Masimi had died of his injuries. more..
Israel continues deadly air raids
Al Jazeera 2/27/2008
Israeli forces have killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza, while a rocket launched from the strip has killed an Israeli man and wounded another in southern Israel. The Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire on Wednesday. The group said it had launched more than 20 rockets at Israel, including eight at Sderot, the town where the deadly strike took place. Israel’s air force later bombed the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, killing a 6-month-old baby and wounding at least 14 other people, hospital officials said. The baby boy, Mohammed Bourai, was killed when three missiles fired by an Israeli helicopter struck the building in the Gaza Strip, a hospital source said. more..
Abu Ar-Rish Brigades claim Sderot projectile attack
Ma’an News Agency 2/27/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Fatah’s Abu Ar-Rish Brigades claimed responsibility on Wednesday for firing two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot in the western Negev. They said in a statement that the shelling was in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. [end]
Seven Palestinians kidnapped in Israeli operation in Jenin
Ali Samoudi, translated by Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 2/27/2008
Israeli forces kidnapped at least seven civilians in a pre-dawn invasion. Among those kidnapped were relatives of wanted Palestinians on the Israeli list from the northern West Bank city of Jenin. In Jenin refugee camp, the army kidnapped three Palestinians and transferred them to an undisclosed detention center. [end]
Palestinian security arrest 3 Hamas members
Ma’an News Agency 2/27/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Hamas said on Wednesday that Palestinian security services have arrested three Hamas members in the West Bank. They said in a statement said that two of the arrestees were from the district of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank and one from Ramallah district in the central West Bank. [end]
Israeli forces arrest 17 Palestinians in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 2/27/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli forces arrested 17 Palestinians in the West Bank on Wednesday morning, claiming they were ’wanted’ activists. The Israeli forces said they found several Molotov Cocktails near Jericho ready to be used. [end]
Environment Ministry touts response to 2006 oil spill caused by Israeli bombing
Sara Mansour Special to The Daily Star, Daily Star 2/28/2008
BEIRUT: The Environment Ministry has released a new booklet containing information about the environmental catastrophe caused by Israel’s bombing of the fuel tanks at the Jiyyeh power plant during the summer 2006 war. Funded by the Hanns Seidel foundation and entitled "One Year On... Oil Spill Crisis, July 2006," the 15-page booklet in both English and Arabic recounts the history of the spill between July 2006 and July 2007. This includes a rundown on the events and phases, estimates of environmental degradation and costs and other information, including action that was taken and is to be taken, such as surveys and interventions. The impact of the spill, estimated at between 12,000 and 15,000 tons, was determined by wind and water currents that spread it across 150 kilometers of Lebanese coast. Reactions to the oil spill came through different phases. more..
Palestine Today 022708
Ghassan Bannoura -Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 2/27/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Wednesday February 27th, 2008. Seven Palestinians killed during Israeli army attacks on Gaza, while in the West Bank undercover army forces kill one Palestinian and injuring four, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian medical sources reported that two Palestinian farmers were killed, on Wednesday afternoon, during Israeli shelling of farm land near Gaza city in the northern part of the coastal region. Dr, Mo’awiah Abu Hassanin of the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza told reporters that, two farmers were killed with two others injured when Israeli tanks stationed at the borders near Gaza city shelled nearby farmland. more..
Palestinian farmer shot dead by Israeli troops in Khan Younis
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 2/26/2008
Palestinian Medical sources reported on Tuesday at night that a Palestinian farmer died of wounds sustained during evening hours when Israeli troops opened fire at him as he was farming his land in Al Qarara town, near Khan Younis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Sources at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis stated that resident Hasan Abu Sabt, 35, was seriously injured when troops stationed at the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip opened fire at him while he was tilling his land. Abu Sabt was seriously injured and died of his wounds at Nasser hospital later on, the sources added. Meanwhile, an Israeli military spokesperson claimed that a tank spotted a Palestinian planting a bomb near the Kissufim border crossing, and shot him dead. The spokesperson added that the slain resident was an armed resistance fighter. more..
Israeli army attacks Palestinian societies and schools in Hebron
International Middle East Media Center 2/26/2008
On Tuesday morning, Israeli forces invaded several buildings belonging to the Islamic charitable Association and Muslim Youth Association in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. The Army then confiscated property on the attacked sites based on military orders. Sources also declared that the military operation included the main buildings of the Associations and they confiscated equipments, documents, computers and other related properties. In the meantime, the army issued military orders to close the Associations and to transfer the ownership of the offices and buildings to the Israeli authorities. In the issued military orders, authorities closed the entrances of the buildings and imposed a penalty of imprisonment for five years if anyone came into the sites. According to the sources the operation is ongoing and Israeli soldiers are still imposing tight measures on the targeted sites. more..
Report: Palestinian homes are demolished in East Jerusalem, construction is prohibited
Maisa Abu Ghazaleh, International Middle East Media Center 2/26/2008
A report issued on Tuesday by the Society of the Arab Studies indicated that the Israeli Ministry of interior and Jerusalem Israeli Municipality are actually implementing a daily and systematic policy which prohibits the Arabs for building in the city, and encouraging the demolition of Arab homes in East Jerusalem. The report added that since 1967, the Israeli authorities had demolished 8500 houses of East Jerusalem under several pretexts. The Society had documented 786 demolished homes in the period between January 1, 2000, and September 30, 2007. The houses were demolished under the pretext of violating the Israeli construction law. 86 of the demolished constructions were leveled between January and September 2007, the demolition orders included most of the neighborhoods, villages and suburbs of East Jerusalem. more..
Israeli Soldiers detain eight residents in Nablus
IMEMC News - Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 2/26/2008
Palestinian Security sources in Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, reported on Monday evening that Israeli soldiers detained eights residents including family members, in Khallit Al Amoud area in the city. Seven were released later on, and one was moved to an Israeli hospital. The eight were identified as Soheib Al Kharraz, Osama Al Kharraz and his two sons Moayyad and Ziad, Mohammad Saleh Al Kharraz and his son Ayman, Osama Makkawi, and Mohammad Oleywi. Seven of the detained residents were released later on, while resident Osama Makkawi was injured and moved to an Israeli hospital. The abductions were carried out when the army invaded Ras Al Ein and the Eastern Area in Nablus. Moreover, troops invaded Tulkarem city in the northern part of the West Bank and searched several homes. more..
Israeli forces raid Nablus, Jenin, and Tubas
Ma’an News Agency 2/26/2008
Jenin – Ma’an – An undercover Israeli force on Tuesday besieged the home of a Palestinian an Islamic Jihad activist in Qabatia in the northern West Bank. According to Palestinian security sources the Israeli force failed to apprehend Salih Abu Zaid, an activist within the Al-Quds Brigades, as he was not at home. Separately, Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank city of Jenin and ransacked several homes. No arrests or casualties have been reported. In Tubas, in the northern West Bank, Israeli patrols invaded the city amidst heavy gunfire. They stationed themselves in front of the municipal council building. There have been no casualties, nor arrests reported. more..
Israeli forces arrest 8 Palestinians across West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 2/26/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli forces apprehended eight Palestinians from different West Bank districts on Tuesday morning, after raiding several cities and towns. Israeli sources said the army arrested eight "wanted activists" in the district of Nablus district in the northern West Bank and Bethlehem also in the north. [end]
Israeli military jeeps storm Bethlehem, and clash with local youth
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 2/26/2008
At least 15 Israeli military jeeps stormed on Tuesday noon the West Bank city of Bethlehem, IMEMC learned. According to an IMEMC correspondent, the Israeli incursion started Tuesday at midday as Israeli jeeps entered the city from several directions. Several jeeps stormed the nearby town of Beit Sahour and local youth hurled stones at them. The standoff lasted for half an hour before the jeeps left the town and headed back to Bethlehem. Palestinian security sources in Bethlehem said that no kidnapping or injuries have been reported. The sources added that invading forces left the Bethlehem area on Tuesday afternoon. Update from: Israeli military jeeps storm Bethlehem Tuesday February 26, 2008 14:06 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC Exclusive IMEMC learned that on Tuesday, at least 15 Israeli military jeeps stormed the West Bank city of Bethlehem. more..
Fatah accuses Executive Force of abducting four Fatah members in Rafah
IMEMC News - Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 2/26/2008
Sources close to the Fatah movement, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, reported on Monday at night that Hamas-controlled security forces in the Gaza Strip arrested four members of Fateh in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, reported that Hamas Executive Force members arrested Ibrahim Qishta, a senior Fateh leader in Rafah, as he was heading back home from work. Qishta was reportedly attacked and taken to an unknown destination. Executive Force members also arrested three members of Fateh in the same area; the three are residents of Al Nasser neighborhood. They were identified as Mohammad Abu AL Haseen, Subih Abid-Rabbo Abu AL Haseen and Imad Ali Abu Al Hasseen. more..
An-Nasser Brigades attack Israeli kibbutz
Ma’an News Agency 2/26/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), the An- Nasser Salah Addin Brigades claimed responsibility on Tuesday for launching eight homemade projectiles at the Israeli Kibuttz of Nirim east of Kissufim near the Gaza border. They said in a statement that the shelling was part of a military campaign dubbed "Messages from Hell" in retaliation for the assassination of the PRC leader Abu As-Sa’id, and the frequent assaults on resistance fighters. The number one leader of the PRC, ’Amir Qarmoot Abu As-Sa’id, was assassinated in the Gaza Strip on 4 February, when an Israeli warplane fired a missile at his car in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. more..
Palestinian military groups fire at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 2/26/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades claimed responsibility on Monday evening for launching two homemade projectiles at the Israeli military post of Kissufim in the central Gaza Strip. Separately, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, along with a group from the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades said they fired four mortar shells at the area near the Erez crossing. The military groups said they will continue to resist the Israeli occupation in light of the continuous aggression against the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Palestinian National Resistance shells Israeli military base in Gaza
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 2/26/2008
Palestinian National Resistance, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility for attacking an Israeli military base in Gaza, Sofa base, on Tuesday morning. In a statement to the press, Resistance confirmed that they shelled the military base with home- made shells. The National Resistance declared that the attack came as a response to the continuous attacks of the Israeli military on the Palestinians. At the end of their statement, the National Resistance vowed to continue their resistance and to defend the Palestinian lands until the end of the occupation. [end]
Unidentified gunmen fire at minister of agriculture guard
Ma’an News Agency 2/26/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – One of the security officers who guard the house of the Palestinian minister of agriculture in the caretaker government Mahmoud Al-Habbash came under fire on Monday evening, security sources told Ma’an. The security sources added that the guard was near the house in Ramallah when he came under fire by unidentified gunmen. The minister was not at home at the time. They explained that the motive was related to a personal dispute between the perpetrators and the guard and has nothing to do with the minister of agriculture. [end]
PFLP’s military wing targets Israeli towns
Ma’an News Agency 2/26/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Tuesday for firing two homemade projectiles at the Israeli border towns of Sderot and Zikim. The military group said in a statement that "the Israeli criminal acts against the Palestinian people must be met with more military operations." [end]
Hamas: PA security forces arrest five members of the movement from the West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 2/26/2008
Hamas movement sources reported on Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority security forces controlled by President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah arrested five members of the movement from several parts of the West Bank on Monday. According to the sources the arrests were made in the cities of Tulkarem, Salfit and Nablus located in the northern part of the West Bank. [end]
IOF troops storm two charities, confiscate property
Palestinian Information Center 2/26/2008
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- IOF soldiers stormed at dawn Tuesday the premises of two Islamic charities in Al-Khalil city, confiscated their property and arrested the employees. Sources close to those societies told PIC correspondent that the soldiers burst into the two headquarters and wreaked havoc inside them. The commander of the invading unit ordered the confiscation of buses and vehicles that serve students who study in those societies’ schools and kindergartens. Both societies were the frequent target of similar attacks at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces and their staffers were also detained on previous occasions. The IOF command ordered closure of the two societies, which threaten the future of thousands of orphans and poor students who study in their schools, in addition to stripping their teachers and the administrative staff of their sole source of income. more..
IDF seizes Hamas charity in West Bank city of Hebron
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 2/26/2008
Israel Defense Forces troops seized the facilities of a Hamas-affiliated charity in the West Bank city of Hebron, saying it funneled money to the Islamic group’s militant activities and recruited members to its ranks, the army announced Tuesday. The move against the Islamic Charity Movement came three weeks after two Hamas members from Hebron carried out a suicide bombing that killed a woman in the Israeli town of Dimona. The Islamic charity is a front to strengthen Hamas’ foothold in the West Bank, the military said in a statement Tuesday. Hamas, which advocates Israel’s destruction, violently seized power in the Gaza Strip in June, and both Israel and the moderate government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are afraid the group will try to wrest control of the West Bank as well. more..
Palestine Today 022608
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 2/26/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Tuesday February 26th, 2008. The Israeli army kidnaps nine civilians from the West Bank, while the Palestinian resistance attacks Israeli military site in Gaza, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast On Tuesday morning, Israeli forces invaded several buildings belonging to the Islamic charitable Association and Muslim Youth Association in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. The Army confiscated property from the properties. Sources of the targeted associations reported that large forces of the Israeli army backed by armored vehicles and military trucks carried out a wide-scale military operation for several hours at the Associations owned buildings, offices and schools in different parts of Hebron city. more..
VIDEO - Qassam lands near Sderot school; child seriously injured
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 2/25/2008
(Video) Ten-year-old boy sustains serious injuries to his arm during rocket attack on western Negev town; total of five Qassams fired toward Israeli territory from Gaza since morning hours - VIDEO - A 10-year-old boy sustained serious injuries to his arm Monday when a Qassam fired by Palestinians in north Gaza landed near a school in Sderot. The Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the attack. Video courtesy of infolive. tv - Paramedics dispatched to the scene managed to stop the bleeding and evacuate the boy to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. A number of other residents were treated for shock. The parents of 10-year-old Yossi Haimov of Sderot received good news on Monday afternoon, after the hospital’s deputy director-general, Dr. Ron Lobel, informed them that the doctors had managed to save their son’s arm which was badly injured in the rocket attack. more..
Israeli forces seize four Palestinians in Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces seized four young Palestinian men in the southern West Bank district of Bethlehem on Monday morning. Palestinian security told Ma’an that Israeli soldiers raided the town of Al-Khadr, south of Bethlehem, and apprehended 27-year-old Ahmad Hasan Salah and 24-year-old Muhammad Khalid Al-Ammuri. Israeli troops also stormed the Hindaza Mountain area, south of the city of Bethlehem, and arrested the Hamas activist Nadir Jubran, local sources said. The activist’s wife said that Jubran suffers from bleeding in the stomach and was scheduled to undergo a surgical operation. Local sources reported that Israeli forces also raided the town of Ad-Doha, south of Bethlehem city, and seized 20-year old Muhammad Salhad. more..
Stone-throwing youths confront invading Israeli forces in Zeita
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank town of Zeita north of Tulkarem and ransacked several houses on Monday morning. Ma’an’s reporter said that a fierce confrontation erupted near the separation wall in the town between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces. Teenagers pelted the invading forces with stones and empty bottles while the soldiers fired gunshots and sonic bombs. No casualties or arrests have been reported. Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli troops invaded the town’s graveyard on the pretext of searching for searching for stone-throwers who hid in the graves. [end]
Israeli forces seize three Palestinians in Balata refugee camp
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli military forces seized three Palestinians in Balata refugee camp east of the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank on Monday. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an’s correspondent that a number of Israeli military vehicles raided the area at 3:00 at dawn and arrested three Palestinians after forcing their way into several houses and searching them. The sources named the detainees as Fadi Dweikat, Yasser Dweikat and Hamdi Dweikat. [end]
Israeli forces seize six Palestinians in daylight raid in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Nablus – Ma’an – Undercover Israeli forces afternoon raided the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Monday and seized six Palestinians. Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that an undercover Israeli force entered a shop and started shooting into the air before more Israeli forces arrived. Then they seized six Palestinians and withdrew. The eyewitnesses added that they saw blood on the ground after the Israeli forces left. [end]
VIDEO - News / Woman, two children hurt in Qassam attack on Sderot
Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 2/25/2008
Haaretz. com/Channel 10 news roundup for February 25, 2008. In this edition: Palestinian militants in Gaza fire rockets at Israel which hit Sderot, wounding a woman and two children. A Gaza protest against Israel’s blockade yields a disappointing turnout. Three Israel Defense Forces officers are injured in blast at a central Israel base. An American tourist drowns in a flash flood near the Dead Sea. [end]
Two Palestinian military groups claim attack on Israeli military vehicles
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Two armed wings affiliated with Fatah, the Al-Mujahideen Brigades and the Abu Ar-Rish Brigades, claimed to have jointly launched two mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles stationed at the "Malaka forest" on Monday morning. The said that the shelling was in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Palestinian resistance fire home made shells at southern Israel
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 2/25/2008
A Palestinian resistance group claimed responsibility for firing three home-made shells at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. The action caused no damage or injures. In a press release, the Al Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the rocket launches. The group said that the attack was in response to Israeli military offensives against the Gaza strip. Israeli attacks on the Palestinian coastal region left 4 Palestinians killed on Monday. In related news,Palestinian resistance groups also announced that they targeted Israeli tanks stationed at Israeli borders, near Gaza city. The Israeli army have reported no damage or injures. [end]
Palestinian military groups target Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Al-Fatiheen Brigades, a military wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility for launching two projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, in the western Negev, on Monday. Separately, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Bridages, said that their fighters fired three mortar shells at the Israeli military site of Kisufim, east of Al-Qarara in the southern Gaza Strip, on Monday. The military groups said in separate statements that it is their right to respond to the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. more..
Two IDF officers injured in blast at central Israel base
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 2/25/2008
Two Israel Defense Forces officers were injured Monday in an explosion at the Palmachim base in central Israel. The accident occured during the course of a test of weapons seized from the Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006. One officer suffered serious wounds in the blast and lost his arm. A non-commissioned officer was moderately hurt. The explosion was apparently caused by a Hezbollah rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), which accidentally went off in the vicinity of the victims. Rescue services arrived at the base, which is located south of Rishon Letzion, and administered first aid treatment to the injured soldiers, who suffered shrapnel wounds. The wounded were then evacuated by helicopter to hospitals for further treatment. more..
IDF base blast caused by Hizbullah weapons
Ynet, YNetNews 2/25/2008
Ynet learns new details on explosion which left three soldiers injured at military base near Rishon Lezion: Rocket-propelled grenade taken as booty during Second Lebanon War explodes in midst of test aimed at examining force of weapon which threatened IDF tanks during war - The circumstances of the explosion which occurred Monday at the IDF’s Mivtach 24 base near Rishon Lezion have yet to be clarified, but Ynet had learned new details on the blast, which left three soldiers injured. The explosion took place as a group of soldiers and officers examined a rocket-propelled grenade antitank weapon. One of the officers was seriously injured in the blast and lost part of his arm. The weapons tested were taken as booty from Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War. The Syrian army and Hizbullah fighters in southern Lebanon possess such arms, which are considered a significant threat on armored vehicles and tanks. more..
Grief, anger as Gaza buries another day’s dead
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinians in Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza City held funeral processions for four Palestinians on Monday who were killed by Israeli attacks earlier in the day. The funeral of the Hamas fighter Husam Abu Hain was held in Gaza City. The funeral headed from Ash-Shifa hospital to the deceased’s family home then to the mosque for prayer before the burial. Meanwhile, the funeral of Hamas activists Tha’ir Hani Salah and Tha’r Musbih headed from Nasser hospital in Khan Younis to their families’ homes before going to mosque, and then to the cemetery. In Rafah, mourners took part in the funeral of 21-year-old Midhat Awwad, an activist with the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades. The mourners in all funeral processions condemned the Israeli criminal acts against the Palestinian people, demanding that Palestinian military groups take revenge. more..
Man murdered in Tira; residents say he was a collaborator
Raanan Ben-Zur, YNetNews 2/25/2008
Ahmad Ziad Samara shot to death by masked gunmen in his office; attackers still at large. Residents: Samara was a collaborator from Qalqilya, no one is sad he was killed - Shot to death in middle of town in broad daylight: Ahmad Ziad Samara, 35, was killed Monday morning after he was shot by masked gunmen who burst into his office at a driving school he owned in the Israeli-Arab town of Tira close to the Green Line. Police are investigating. Samara was seated at his desk at his office when, primary reports indicate, a vehicle stopped in front of the building and two masked gunmen got out of the vehicle. They proceeded into Samara’s office where they sprayed him with gunfire and fled the scene. "We heard dozens of shots," a resident said. Samara collapsed on the ground and began hemorrhaging from multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest, neck and stomach. more..
Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades deny fighter intended to surrender to PA
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Nablus – Ma’an - The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades denied on Monday a claim by the governor of Nablus that one of their fighters intended to turn himself in to the Palestinian Authority (PA) before he was seized by Israeli forces three days ago. Nablus Governor Jamal Muheisin told Ma’an on Sunday that activist Majdi Mabrouka aimed to renounce armed struggle in exchange for amnesty from Israel as some other fighters have done. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said in a statement that the news about Mabrouka’s intentions to turn himself over and hand his weapon were false and baseless rumors. They held the PA responsible for his arrest." While everybody recognizes the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to keep security and order, it has become evident that ending Palestinian resistance and getting rid of the wanted activists were part of those efforts," the statement added. more..
Al-Aqsa Brigades launch projectiles at Israeli town of Kfar Aza
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – Fatah’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed responsibility for launching two projectiles at the Israeli town of Kfar Aza, near the northeastern border of the Gaza Strip, on Monday. They explained the attack as part of their retaliation for Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Al-Aqsa Brigades launch three projectiles south of Ashkelon
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Gaza – Ma’an – The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility for launching three homemade projectiles at the Israeli industrial zone south of Ashkelon on Monday. They said that the attack was in retaliation for Israeli crimes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Israeli forces seize two Palestinians near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 2/25/2008
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank city and refugee camp of Jenin, as well as the town of Zububa, northwest of Jenin, on Monday. The invading forces ransacked several homes in Zububa before apprehending 15-year-old Saddam Jaradat and 22-year-old Fida Qan’eer. Ma’an’s correspondent added that the soldiers also conducted a search in the lands belonging to Zububa, near the separation wall. [end]
Palestine Today 022508
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 2/25/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 4 m 0s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Monday February 25th, 2008. In Gaza, the Israeli army kills four Palestinians, while in the West Bank the Israeli army took six civilians political prisoner, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian sources reported that four Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during three separate operations in the Gaza strip on Monday. Hussam Abu Hieen was killed when Israeli jet fighters shelled residential areas east of Gaza city on Monday at dawn, medical sources reported. Meanwhile Hani Abu Salah and Tha’er Misbah were killed when Israeli drones, fired missiles at a group of resistance fighters in Khan Younis city in the southern part of the Gaza strip. more..
Israeli strike kills three civilians in Gaza
Middle East Online 2/24/2008
GAZA CITY - An Israeli missile strike in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun killed three Palestinians near the border fence with Israel on Saturday, a Palestinian hospital official said. Doctor Muawiya Hassanein, the director of Gaza emergency medical services, identified the men as Mohammed al-Zaanin, Ibrahim Abu Jarad, and Mohammed Hassanein, employees at the Bank of Jordan, who were picnicking near the border with Israel when the missile struck." They were in an area near the border and they were having lunch outside. They were not militants, but civilians," Hassanein said. An Israeli army spokesman said the men were "killed by a land-to-land missile while they were on their way to fire mortars" but could not confirm that the men were carrying weapons. Israel has carried out near-daily assaults against the Hamas-ruled territory in recent months in a bid to halt rocket and mortar attacks by militants on southern Israel. more..