IDF artillery shelling kills 2 children, 4 others in northern Gaza Strip

A Palestinian girl crying during the funeral of those killed by IDF shelling in northern Gaza on Monday. (Reuters)

July 24, 2006


By Avi Issacharoff, Yuval Azoulay, Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies

Israel Defense Forces shelling in northern Gaza on Monday killed six Palestinians in three separate incidents.

In the first incident on Monday an IDF shell landed near a crowd of people standing outside an apartment building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia, killing three people, Palestinian hospital officials said.

Two were civilians, residents of the building, and the third was an off-duty police officer, residents said.The second incident was an IDF shell shot at the same neighborhood, which wounded six Palestinians. An 11-year old girl died later of her wounds.

Both incidents were likely a case of IDF units shooting at launch areas from which Qassam rockets were previously fired. Over the past few days, the IDF has called for the neighborhood?s residents to leave the area, as it planned to strike at a house that served as a storage place for weapons and to shoot at launch areas in the neighborhood. Read more...