Israel kills women at mosque siege

Video

03 November 2006

Two Palestinian women have been killed during a stand-off near a Gaza mosque while they were trying to rescue about 60 Palestinian men besieged inside.

The dramatic events came on the third day of an Israeli assault on the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the largest operation Israel has conducted in the Gaza Strip in months.

Around 200 Palestinian women marched towards the mosque

On Friday, about 200 Palestinian women marched towards the al-Nasir mosque in the town of Beit Hanoun, which Israeli forces surrounded on Thursday, in a attempt to rescue the men.

Israeli forces opened fire towards the women and two of them were killed. Six others were wounded.

Um Muhammad, a woman in her 40s, said after the rescue attempt: "We risked our lives to free our sons."

With Friday's shootings, at least 22 Palestinians have been killed since Israeli troops entered Beit Hanoun on Wednesday.

Escape

The Israeli army later confirmed that the Palestinian men had escaped from the mosque. Shortly after they fled, the roof of the building, one of the oldest in Gaza according to locals, collapsed, witnesses and the Israeli army said.

The Palestinian prime minister said the raids were terrorism

The minaret was left standing, but most of the building was reduced to rubble. The Israeli military, which earlier demolished a wall of the mosque compound and fired stun grenades and tear gas inside, said the collapse was the result of gunfire and damage done during the 12-hour siege.

Residents of the town of 30,000 people said Beit Hanoun was now effectively under an Israeli army curfew after infantry units backed by tanks stormed into the town on Wednesday.

At a Hamas rally after nightfall on Thursday in Gaza City, Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, called the Israeli offensive "terrorism".

Deaths continue

Israel's offensive, called Operation Autumn Clouds, began on Wednesday and is aimed partly at halting the barrage of rockets into Israeli territory.

Despite the Israeli assault, Palestinian fighters still managed to fire six homemade missiles at the Israeli border town of Sderot on Thursday, wounding at least two people, medical officials said.

Overnight on Wednesday, eight Palestinians were killed in the Israeli raids, including at least five fighters, four of whom were from Hamas' armed wing, witnesses said.

An Israeli soldier was also killed during the Beit Hanoun operation. Hamas' armed wing said it had killed the Israeli soldier and wounded several others.

More than 280 Palestinians have been killed in the four-month-old offensive, about half of them civilians, while three Israeli soldiers have died.

Source

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IDF soldiers instructed to avoid hurting civilian population in the Gaza Strip


Golani Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yarom, assembled the soldiers for a last briefing before they enterred Gaza. "If we don't take care of the Hamas organization in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, our situation will become a lot more difficult and severe," said Lieutenant Colonel Yarom to his soldiers, while stressing that their goal is to target terrorist, and to refrain from injuring civilians. "This is an ethical and moral issue."

"The warriors were instructed to keep from hurting civilians. If civilians are hurt due to regretful circumstances, they will be evacuated to a hospital in Israel to receive medical treatment," said Lieutenant Alfasi.

The IDF went against their own orders?

Link:

Palestinian women shot dead in Gaza mosque siege

Israeli forces open fire on women helping Palestinian fighters escape besieged mosque; one woman killed, 16 injured


View of the Massacre