An Israeli armored personnel vehicle
march towards the south of the Gaza Strip, Jan. 6, 2009. Over 540
Palestinians have been killed and some 2,500 others injured in the Gaza
Strip during Israel's Operation Cast Lead starting from Dec. 27, 2008.
(Xinhua/Yin Bogu) Photo
Gallery>>>
by Saud Abu Ramadan
GAZA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Israel pressed on with its
airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday by shelling houses and a school run by
the United Nations, killing 82 Palestinians, the majority women and children, in
the eleventh day of violence.
An Israeli air and ground strike on al-Fakhoura
school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Jabalia refugee
camp on Tuesday evening killed 46 people and wounded 150 others, medics said.
The school is located in the center of Jabalia
refugee camp, sheltering 200,000 refugees displaced by the ongoing Israeli
offensive. According to UN officials, the school was directly targeted by the
Israeli army.
Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA spokesman in Gaza, condemned
the attack on the school, saying that "we have several times noted to the
Israeli sides to avoid targeting our schools that shelter civilians."
A smoke column rises following an
Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 6, 2009. Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday rejected a European Union (EU)
request for a 48-hour ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, vowing to push ahead
the offensive in the Gaza Strip till security is restored to southern
regions of Israel. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar) Photo Gallery>>>
"In spite of rising the blue flag of UNRWA on our
schools, the Israeli army has been targeting those schools by missiles and tanks
shells," said Abu Hasna, adding "four of our schools were hit. The latest was
al-Fakhoura school."
Israel's military said its shelling on the school in
northern Gaza Strip was in response to mortar fire from within the school.
Meanwhile, an official statement issued by the
Palestinian Health Ministry said that 42 civilians were killed in the tanks
shelling of al-Fakhoura school in northern Gaza Strip.
Ibrahim Abu Tahoun, an observer based in Gaza City,
said "In less than 24 hours, some 82 people were killed and 150 wounded in a
series of massacres committed by the Israeli army in airstrikes on central and
northern Gaza Strip."
Palestinians carry a wounded boy, who according to the Palestinian medical source was injured in Israeli forces' operations in Gaza, to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Jan. 6, 2009. Israel attacked three UN schools sheltering hundreds of Palestinian refugees in Gaza on Tuesday, causing 40 dead and more than 60 wounded.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance
services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, told reporters up to Tuesday 670
people have been killed and around 3,000 others wounded since the launch of the
Israeli offensive on Dec. 27.
Hundreds of families went to the school run by the
UNRWA to take shelter after their houses were either destroyed or threatened to
be destroyed by the Israeli army warplanes.
The UNRWA spokesman in Gaza said the UN group, which
offers humanitarian aid to two thirds of the Gaza population, decided to open 10
of its schools in the Gaza Strip as shelters.
Eyewitnesses near the school said two tank shells
landed into the schoolyard, adding that dozens were killed and injured, and were
all taken to three major hospitals.
"Dozens of people, who were inside the school, turned
into pieces and most of them were women and children," said Hassan, a
Palestinian paramedic, who asked not to give his second name.
Palestinians carry a wounded boy, who according to the Palestinian medical source was injured in Israeli forces' operations in Gaza, to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Jan. 6, 2009. Israel attacked three UN schools sheltering hundreds of Palestinian refugees in Gaza on Tuesday, causing 40 dead and more than 60 wounded.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Abu Tahoun, the Palestinian observer, expected that
"the massacre in Jabalia today reminds us of the massacre committed on the
Lebanese village of Qana, when so many civilians were killed by Israeli shelling
in 1996."
He said Qana massacre obliged Israel to end its
offensive on Lebanon after it was embarrassed by the world public opinion, and
"I hope that this massacre would embarrass Israel again and stop this war soon."
The Israeli army earlier targeted another school in
the beach refugee camp, killing three people of the al-Dayah family. Thirteen
others of the family were killed in another strike in Gaza City.
Tuesday's predawn witnessed a series of airstrikes
and shelling, mainly on central Gaza Strip, where a father and two of his
children were killed in al-Bureij refugee camp.
Also 10 more Palestinians, including two Islamic
Jihad militants were killed in separate airstrikes and tanks shelling on the
Gaza Strip early on Tuesday morning.
Palestinians take shelter at a United Nations aid centre situated in a school in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 6, 2009. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday rejected a European Union (EU) request for a 48-hour ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, vowing to push ahead the offensive in the Gaza Strip till security is restored to southern regions of Israel. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar) Photo Gallery>>>
GAZA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The death toll has risen to 40
Palestinians killed and dozens wounded on Tuesday afternoon when the Israeli
army struck a school run by the United Nations in the Jabalia refugee camp in
northern Gaza Strip, medics said.
Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance
services in the Palestinian Health Ministry told reporters that 40 civilians
were killed and dozens injured in the strike on the al-Fakhoura school in the
refugee camp. Full story
JERUSALEM, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli soldier was
killed on Tuesday in a gunbattle with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip,
raising the death toll of Israeli troops to six since the Israeli ground
incursion began on Saturday.
Another four soldiers, from a combined unit of the elite
Golaniand Combat Engineering troops, were wounded in the morning encounter in
the northern part of Gaza City, reported local news service Ynet. Full story
RAMALLAH, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Hiding deposed Prime Minister
of Hamas government in Gaza Ismail Haneya said on Tuesday that the Israeli
ground operation carried out into the Gaza Strip earlier this week "has failed."
Haneya said in a written statement sent to reporters that
"the ground aggression on the Gaza Strip is a proof that the occupation has
failed to force Gaza Strip population to surrender." Full story
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-general
Ban Ki-moon said here on Monday that he and visiting Arab foreign ministers
agreed to work closely so that the current Gaza conflict can end quickly.
"We have had a very good exchange of views on the very
serious matters of security situation in Gaza and southern Israel," he said.
"This meeting has provided an excellent opportunity (for) us to discuss how we
can bring this violence to an immediate end, and to restore peace and stability
in the region." Full story
GENEVA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Related countries should keep
their borders open for civilians who may be compelled to flee the ongoing
conflict in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations' top refugee official said on
Monday.
"Those who are compelled to flee the Gaza Strip should be
able to do so and to find safety and security in other countries according to
international law," said Antonio Guterres, the UN high commissioner for refugees
(UNHCR). Full story
Palestinians wait in line to buy bread outside a bakery in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 6, 2009. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar) Photo Gallery>>>
