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Israeli airstrike kills 10 Palestinians
A wounded Palestinian boy is treated in the emergency room of the Shifa hospital after he was injured in an Israeli missile strike aimed at Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza City Tuesday June 13, 2006. An Israeli air strike targeting a key figure in Palestinian rocket attacks killed 10 people on Tuesday, including the militant, two schoolchildren and three medical workers who rushed to the scene of an initial blast. Islamic Jihad said the two of the dead belonged to the ranks of its militant group. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Abbas condemned the airstrike, calling it "state terrorism."
The deadly airstrike came hours after hundreds of Palestinian police loyal to Abbas rampaged against the Hamas government, riddling the parliament building and Cabinet offices with bullets before setting them ablaze in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen. The rampage raised new fears the Palestinians were headed toward civil war.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he had approved supplying weapons to Abbas to "strengthen his presidential guard, so he can strengthen his forces against Hamas."
"I did this because we are running out of time and we need to help Abu Mazen," Olmert said at a meeting with members of Britain's Parliament, referring to Abbas.
The Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted militants on a mission to launch Katyusha rockets at southern Israel. Palestinian witnesses said the first missile missed the vehicle, which hit a curb before it was struck by two other missiles.
The last two missiles killed the civilians and wounded 32 others, three of them seriously. Also killed was Hamoud Wadiya, Islamic Jihad's top rocket launcher, and Shawki Sayklia, a militant whose affiliation wasn't immediately known.
Islamic Jihad militants swiftly vowed revenge.
"God willing, the resistance groups ... will deliver a harsh response. All options are open," said Khader Habib, an Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza.
Hekmat Mughrabi, tears streaming down her face and her veil soaked with blood, said her 30-year-old son, Ashraf, and a 13-year-old family member died when one of the missiles hit the curb outside her home. She and her son were chatting on her bed when they heard the boom of the first missile. The young man ran to the door, seeking to calm the children, who had been on the roof making kites during their summer vacation.
"He was shouting to the kids, 'Don't be afraid, don't be afraid,'" and hadn't even finished his sentence when the second missile hit, she said. "My son died in my arms."
Shrapnel from the blast injured several other family members, she said.
If the van was carrying Katyusha rockets as Israel said, that could explain why the army was so determined to stop it. Katyushas have a longer range than the homemade rockets usually fired by Gaza militants and only recently have appeared in the coastal strip.
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Tuesday that Israel would no longer exhibit restraint toward Palestinian militants involved in anti-Israel operations.
"We will act with all our might and use all our means against any group that acts against us," said Peretz, whose hometown, Sderot, comes under frequent rocket attack.
The Israeli military said more than 100 rockets had been launched at Israel since Friday.
Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, demanded an international commission of inquiry "to investigate the brutal crimes and the bloody Israeli massacres of our people."
Hamas recently resumed open involvement in rocket attacks against Israel and officially called off a 16-month truce after the explosion at a Gaza beach Friday.
Ambulances raced toward Shifa Hospital, carrying dead and wounded. At the hospital, three blood-covered bodies lay on the floor, and rescue workers carried a dead boy inside.
Three medical workers also were killed en route to treat people wounded by an earlier missile.
Doctors had a hard time handling all the casualties, and some were treated on the bloodied floor.
At the hospital morgue, where the bodies were brought, angry women shouted, "Death to Israel! Death to the occupation!"
Dozens of gunmen fired in the air as families took bodies away for funeral services. Angry crowds burned tires.
"What happened today is a brutal massacre committed against innocent civilians and fighters from our group," said Habib, the Islamic Jihad leader, outside the morgue. "This massacre is similar to the one that took place on Friday."
Palestinians have blamed the Gaza beach deaths on an Israeli artillery round. The Israeli military said its investigation, whose results are to be released later, shows the deaths likely were caused by a mine planted by Hamas militants.
Abbas accused Israel of trying to "wipe out the Palestinian people."
"Every day there are martyrs, there are wounded people, all of them innocents, all of them bystanders," he said. "They want to eliminate the Palestinian people, but we are going to sit tight. We are sitting tight on our land.
"We want to establish our state and live in peace," he added. "What Israel is committing is state terrorism."
Abbas, a moderate elected last year and separately from Hamas, is being squeezed by violence with Israel and fighting pitting his Fatah faction against Hamas gunmen. The internecine violence has killed 20 Palestinians, some of them civilians, over the past month.
Abbas is trying to persuade Israel to restart long-stalled peace talks with him, rather than the Hamas government, but Olmert, visiting European capitals this week, says Israel won't negotiate with Abbas unless Hamas abandons violence.
Olmert plans to unilaterally pull Israeli settlers out of about 90 percent of the West Bank, with or without negotiations.
"We'll never agree to pull out of all of the territories, because the borders of 1967 are indefensible," he said in London.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and other territory in the 1967 Mideast War. Last year, Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from all of the Gaza Strip.
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Associated Press reporter Sarah el Deeb contributed to this report.
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Nine killed in Israeli air strike
Footage from the scene
Nine Palestinians, including two children, have been killed and up to 20 others hurt in an Israeli air strike in Gaza.
The Israeli army said it had targeted militants on their way to fire rockets at Israel. James Reynolds reports from Gaza.
A wounded Palestinian boy is treated in the emergency room of the Shifa hospital after he was injured in an Israeli missile strike aimed at Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza City Tuesday June 13, 2006. An Israeli air strike targeting a key figure in Palestinian rocket attacks killed 10 people on Tuesday, including the militant, two schoolchildren and three medical workers who rushed to the scene of an initial blast. Islamic Jihad said the two of the dead belonged to the ranks of its militant group. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
June 13,2006
By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An Israeli airstrike targeting a key figure in Palestinian rocket attacks killed 10 people Tuesday, including the militant, two children and three medical workers who rushed to the scene of an initial blast.
The deaths of at least eight civilians were sure to heighten anti-Israel passions inflamed by a weekend blast that killed eight beachgoers at a Gaza shore. It also was likely to further complicate efforts by moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to persuade the resistant Hamas government to endorse a proposal implicitly recognizing Israel.Abbas condemned the airstrike, calling it "state terrorism."
The deadly airstrike came hours after hundreds of Palestinian police loyal to Abbas rampaged against the Hamas government, riddling the parliament building and Cabinet offices with bullets before setting them ablaze in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen. The rampage raised new fears the Palestinians were headed toward civil war.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he had approved supplying weapons to Abbas to "strengthen his presidential guard, so he can strengthen his forces against Hamas."
"I did this because we are running out of time and we need to help Abu Mazen," Olmert said at a meeting with members of Britain's Parliament, referring to Abbas.
The Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted militants on a mission to launch Katyusha rockets at southern Israel. Palestinian witnesses said the first missile missed the vehicle, which hit a curb before it was struck by two other missiles.
The last two missiles killed the civilians and wounded 32 others, three of them seriously. Also killed was Hamoud Wadiya, Islamic Jihad's top rocket launcher, and Shawki Sayklia, a militant whose affiliation wasn't immediately known.
Islamic Jihad militants swiftly vowed revenge.
"God willing, the resistance groups ... will deliver a harsh response. All options are open," said Khader Habib, an Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza.
Hekmat Mughrabi, tears streaming down her face and her veil soaked with blood, said her 30-year-old son, Ashraf, and a 13-year-old family member died when one of the missiles hit the curb outside her home. She and her son were chatting on her bed when they heard the boom of the first missile. The young man ran to the door, seeking to calm the children, who had been on the roof making kites during their summer vacation.
"He was shouting to the kids, 'Don't be afraid, don't be afraid,'" and hadn't even finished his sentence when the second missile hit, she said. "My son died in my arms."
Shrapnel from the blast injured several other family members, she said.
If the van was carrying Katyusha rockets as Israel said, that could explain why the army was so determined to stop it. Katyushas have a longer range than the homemade rockets usually fired by Gaza militants and only recently have appeared in the coastal strip.
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Tuesday that Israel would no longer exhibit restraint toward Palestinian militants involved in anti-Israel operations.
"We will act with all our might and use all our means against any group that acts against us," said Peretz, whose hometown, Sderot, comes under frequent rocket attack.
The Israeli military said more than 100 rockets had been launched at Israel since Friday.
Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, demanded an international commission of inquiry "to investigate the brutal crimes and the bloody Israeli massacres of our people."
Hamas recently resumed open involvement in rocket attacks against Israel and officially called off a 16-month truce after the explosion at a Gaza beach Friday.
Ambulances raced toward Shifa Hospital, carrying dead and wounded. At the hospital, three blood-covered bodies lay on the floor, and rescue workers carried a dead boy inside.
Three medical workers also were killed en route to treat people wounded by an earlier missile.
Doctors had a hard time handling all the casualties, and some were treated on the bloodied floor.
At the hospital morgue, where the bodies were brought, angry women shouted, "Death to Israel! Death to the occupation!"
Dozens of gunmen fired in the air as families took bodies away for funeral services. Angry crowds burned tires.
"What happened today is a brutal massacre committed against innocent civilians and fighters from our group," said Habib, the Islamic Jihad leader, outside the morgue. "This massacre is similar to the one that took place on Friday."
Palestinians have blamed the Gaza beach deaths on an Israeli artillery round. The Israeli military said its investigation, whose results are to be released later, shows the deaths likely were caused by a mine planted by Hamas militants.
Abbas accused Israel of trying to "wipe out the Palestinian people."
"Every day there are martyrs, there are wounded people, all of them innocents, all of them bystanders," he said. "They want to eliminate the Palestinian people, but we are going to sit tight. We are sitting tight on our land.
"We want to establish our state and live in peace," he added. "What Israel is committing is state terrorism."
Abbas, a moderate elected last year and separately from Hamas, is being squeezed by violence with Israel and fighting pitting his Fatah faction against Hamas gunmen. The internecine violence has killed 20 Palestinians, some of them civilians, over the past month.
Abbas is trying to persuade Israel to restart long-stalled peace talks with him, rather than the Hamas government, but Olmert, visiting European capitals this week, says Israel won't negotiate with Abbas unless Hamas abandons violence.
Olmert plans to unilaterally pull Israeli settlers out of about 90 percent of the West Bank, with or without negotiations.
"We'll never agree to pull out of all of the territories, because the borders of 1967 are indefensible," he said in London.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and other territory in the 1967 Mideast War. Last year, Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from all of the Gaza Strip.
___
Associated Press reporter Sarah el Deeb contributed to this report.
___
Nine killed in Israeli air strike
Footage from the scene
Nine Palestinians, including two children, have been killed and up to 20 others hurt in an Israeli air strike in Gaza.
The Israeli army said it had targeted militants on their way to fire rockets at Israel. James Reynolds reports from Gaza.
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 7:28 PM
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