11 Killed, at least 100 Wounded Gaza Refugee Camp

11 Killed, at least 100 Wounded in Renewed Israeli Invasion of Gaza Refugee Camp

Eleven Palestinian citizens, including a 60-year-old elderly man, were killed and at least one hundred were wounded Thursday in a renewed Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip Jabaliya refugee camp, which was invaded by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) at dawn.

The deadly invasion, carried out by dozens of IOF tanks, armoured vehicles and two Apache gunships, came a few days after IOF killed eight Palestinians, including a pregnant mother in her ninth month and two teenagers in al-Bureij refugee camp, also in the Gaza Strip.

The invasion also came a day after the international community heaped criticism on Israel for the mounting number of Palestinian civilians killed during its military aggressions.

Israel had said of late it would intensify its aggression on the Gaza Strip. Since February and until March 03, IOF killed 82 Palestinians, including 16 children and many women and elderly. Most of those killed were in poverty-stricken refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, most notably al-Burreij and Jabaliya.

Palestinian security sources said an Israeli tank shell slammed into a crowd trying to hose down a commercial building set ablaze during the attack, killing eight of them.

Israeli occupation troops also fired tank shells and heavy machine guns, they added.

“Until now, we have 11 killed and more than 100 wounded, among them 30 are in very critical condition, in a new massacre committed against the citizens of Jabalya,” said Dr. Mo’awia Hassanein, chief of emergency services at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

A Reuters TV cameraman and photographer also injured as shrapnel from the shell blasts was sprayed into the crowd, he added.

The Israeli military said soldiers were operating in Jabaliya refugee camp and confirmed the helicopter strike, but gave no details about the target.

PNA Minister Saeb Erekat condemned the IOF raid in Jabaliya as the ‘Israeli government’s revenge’ for the Haifa suicide bombing yesterday, which claimed the lives of 15 Israelis.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Ron Prosor denied the attack was revenge for the Haifa bombing but was instead part of an ongoing campaign to stop so-called “terrorism”.

“The operation in Jabaliya was not revenge for what happened in Haifa,” he said.

Palestinian medical sources identified some of the victims as Mohammed al-Biyari 60, Mohsen Abu Odeh, 30, and Mahmound al-Zanati, in his 20s. The rest of the victims have not been identified yet.

IOF also cut electricity off north of the Gaza Strip, including Beit Lahia, Jabaliya and Beit Hanoun, Palestinian security sources said, adding that at least three houses were dynamited by IOF troops during the invasion.

IOF also opened fire at ambulances and rescue workers, which were trying to rescue some of the wounded, injuring some rescue workers and fire fighters, Palestinian sources said.

IOF Murder Citizen in Bethlehem

In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, IOF murdered a 26-year-old Palestinian after detaining him and leading him away from his house, witnesses said.

After IOF raided the house of Mohammad al-‘As’as, they detained and handcuffed him then fired several shots on his head, relatives said.

The victim’s body was also taken by the IOF, they added.

3 Children Wounded by IOF Gunfire

In Ramallah, another West Bank city, witnesses said that an eight-year-old Palestinian boy and his older brother and sister were wounded late Wednesday by Israeli gunfire in a village to the north.

Walid Jabr was seriously hurt after plastic-coated steel bullets fired by IOF soldiers hit him in the head near his ear, as he was playing with his siblings outside their house in Dura al-Qara village, their older sister Amani Jabr said.

Doah, 12, was moderately wounded and Burgess, 14, only lightly, she said.

“The children were playing in the garden outside the house when suddenly an Israeli patrol came through the trees on foot and started firing,” she said, adding she saw the bullets hit the children, the house doors and a window.

But IOF soldiers did not enter the house nor carry out a search, she said, and left immediately after the shooting incident.

Meanwhile, in and around Ramallah, IOF detained four Palestinians, Palestinian security sources said.

Two brothers, Mohammed and Mahmmoud Hassouneh,, were detained at their house in the city, while a third man, Abdullah Jamal Barghouti, was detained in a nearby village.

Arafat Barghuti was also detained during the day after being ambushed by Israeli occupation troops while in his car near el-Bireh municipality, the sources said.

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