Special report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts
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People check a burned car following an
Israeli air strike at the Rafah refugee camp in the southern
Gaza Strip, near the border with Egypt. Israel began pouring reservists into heavy clashes
across the Gaza Strip on Sunday. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
GAZA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army continued
military air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on Sunday for the 16th
successive day, killing 38 Palestinians, and wounding 80 others, medics and
witnesses said.
Gaza emergency chief Mo'aweya Hassanein told
reporters that 38 Palestinians were killed on Sunday during a series of
airstrikes and tanks shelling on dozens of targets, including houses allover the
Gaza Strip.
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Palestinians mourn over the victims
killed by Israeli attacks in front of the morgue at al-Shifa hospital in
Gaza City, Jan. 11, 2009. The Israeli army continued its air and ground
strikes on different targets in the Gaza Strip from midnight to Sunday
morning, killing 24 Palestinians, local medical sources and witnesses
said. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar)
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Gallery>>> |
He
said that five Palestinians were killed in the most recent tank shellings on
Sunday night on two houses in the Sheja'eya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City,
and on Jabalia town in northern Gaza Strip, adding all were civilians.
Local Radio stations quoted witnesses as saying that
earlier on Sunday evening, Israeli warplanes struck the Hamas-run ministry of
culture in the center of Gaza City, and a 4-story house was also destroyed by an
air-to-ground missile.
The radios, which are the only means of communication
among the population, reported that Israeli airstrikes didn't stop strikes on
the Gaza Strip during the daily three-hour humanitarian cessation.
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Smoke rises during Israel's offensive in
the northern Gaza Strip in the late afternoon January 11, 2009.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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The Popular Front to Liberate Palestine (PFLP) Radio
station reported that the incident that made the 16th day of the Israeli war on
the Gaza Strip significant, was the ground incursion into the southwestern
neighborhoods of Tal el-Hawa and Sheik Ejllin.
Witnesses said that several Israeli army tanks and
armored vehicles rolled about three kilometers into the two neighborhood, adding
that the area witnesses a fierce and violent confrontations between Israeli
soldiers and Gaza militants.
Hassanein said that at least 12 Palestinians were
killed during the few-hour ground operation into the two areas of Gaza City.
Witnesses said that 12 militants and two civilians were killed, and dozens were
injured.
The witnesses said that one of the two civilians were
killed in Tal el-Hawa neighborhood was a two-year old child and the other was 21
years old.
The PFLP Radio station reported
that as the Israeli ground forces were attacking southwestern Gaza City, Israeli
warplanes and tanks intensified strikes and shelling allover the entire Gaza
Strip.
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Fire and smoke billow following an Israeli air
strike in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah near
the border with Egypt. Israel began pouring reservists into heavy clashes across the Gaza Strip
on Sunday.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
From overnight till Sunday morning, at least 12 were
killed in separate airstrikes and tank shellings in northern Gaza Strip, eastern
Gaza City and the east Khan Younis in the southern Strip, said local
witnesses.
Israeli aircraft bombed over 60 Hamas targets throughout
Gaza Strip overnight, including the house of Ahmed Ja'abri, the top commander of
the Hamas armed wing. Ja'abri has been evacuated earlier and is believed to be
hiding together with other Hamas leader.
Meanwhile, several Israeli tanks rode into
densely-populated area of southern Gaza City on the beach of the Strip. Heavy
clashes took place between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. Witnesses said
after the confrontation, the Israeli tanks retreated back.
Hassanein gave an updated figure of the casualties of
the Palestinians since the beginning of the Israeli operation called "Cast Lead"
that started in Dec. 27, saying that 901 people were killed, and 3,695
wounded.
Report: Egypt-Hamas talks realize
"positive outcome"
CAIRO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The talks between Egyptian
mediators and representatives of Hamas on a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip have
reached "positive outcome," the Egyptian MENA news agency reported on Sunday.
The two sides have agreed that the Israeli offensive
against the Palestinian enclave should be stopped as soon as possible, MENA
quoted an Egyptian official source as saying on condition of anonymity. Full story
Israeli army begins sending reservists
into Gaza
JERUSALEM, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) on Sunday has begun sending its reservists into the Gaza Strip, signaling
an expansion of the IDF ground incursion in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.
An IDF spokesman told Xinhua some reservists have already
entered Gaza and others will go afterwards. He declined to say how many
reservists will go into the Strip. Full story
Exiled Hamas leader says to consider
truce after Israel stops offensive
DAMASCUS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Exiled Hamas politburo
leader Khaled Meshaal said on Saturday his group would consider a truce after
Israel stopped its offensive against the Gaza Strip and lift blockade on the
territory.
Meshaal made the remarks in a televised statement in
Damascus, demanding Israel to end its aggression, pull out its troops, open the
crossing points first. Full story
Bush: cessation of Hamas rocket
firing, arms smuggling key to Gaza cease-fire
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W.
Bush has said that a lasting cease-fire in the Gaza Strip requires Palestinian
militants to first stop rocket firing and arms smuggling, the White House said
on Saturday.
"President Bush emphasized the importance of bringing an
end to rocket-fire against Israel and preventing arms smuggling into Gazaas the
basis for a durable cease-fire," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe in a
statement.Full story
Abbas says Israel must accept Egyptian
plan on Gaza truce
CAIRO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday Israel must accept an Egyptian plan to put an end to
the conflict in the Palestinian territory of Gaza Strip.
Abbas made his call at a press conference following talks
with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday morning, saying Israel must
accept the Egyptian proposal or "face the responsibility over the conflict." Full story
