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Israel
Kills Two Palestinians, Demolishes 18 Houses
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A
Palestinian family sits amide the rubble of a house demolished by
the Israeli army in Khan Yunes (AFP)
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Additional
reporting By Mostafa Al-Sawwaf, IOL Correspondent
GAZA
CITY, December 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israeli
occupation forces have killed two Palestinians in the small hours of
Monday, December 15, claiming they were sneaking into Israel from
northern Gaza Strip, and demolished 18 Palestinian houses in Khan
Yunis.
The
two fatalities were part of a group of six Palestinians who were
spotted in a closed "security zone" inside the Gaza Strip
and close to the border into Israel, Israeli military sources claimed.
No
arms were recovered near the two bodies and of the other four was
captured, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
Israeli sources added that an inquiry had now been opened to determine
if the group were "terrorists who were preparing to carry out
attacks or if they were Palestinians who wanted to enter into Israel
to find work".
Palestinian
security sources confirmed that two men had been killed east of Beit
Hanun.
The
bodies had yet to be returned by the Israelis, they said, adding the
martyrs were not known to belong to any resistance faction.
The
new deaths bring the overall toll since the start of the Palestinian
Intifada, in September 2000 to 3,646, including 2,726 Palestinians and
854 Israelis, according to an AFP count.
18
Houses Demolished
In
another development, Palestinian sources said 18 houses had been razed
to the ground and another 13 partially destroyed during a six-hour
Israeli army incursion near the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis which
began around midnight.
The
Israeli army claimed its forces "demolished several abandoned
structures that were used by Palestinian terrorist cells to launch
mortar bombs and fire missiles" at nearby Jewish settlements.
It
added that the troops "came under massive fire including
anti-tank missiles and automatic gunfire. Hand grenades were also
hurled at the forces."
Eyewitnesses
told IslamOnline.net said Palestinian resistance fighters confronted
the occupation forces with machineguns and hand grenades.
They
detonated two explosive charges disrupting two Israeli tanks, added
the witnesses.
Five
Palestinians, including two children, were wounded in Israeli shelling
of the Khan Yunis On Saturday December 13.
The
same day, Riad Aref Fakhry, 32-year-old activist of the Islamic Jihad,
was gunned down by Israeli occupation forces in Ramallah.
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