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Israeli Troops Kill 14 Palestinians
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Palestinians
take cover from Israeli fire in Khan Yunis refugee camp (AFP)
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GAZA
CITY, October 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least
fourteen Palestinians were killed and 70 others injured in a major
Israeli incursion into Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, overnight, a
few days after Israel concluded a 17-day onslaught on the northern parts
of the Strip.
One
of the victims was named as eight-year-old Hisham Ashur who was hit by a
bullet in the neck, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Another
was identified as Wissam Al-Qidra, 18.
All
victims died in either air strikes or from gunfire and tank shelling in
the town of
Khan Yunis
.
Palestinian
medics said some 70 people had been injured since fighting broke out
late Sunday, while Israeli military sources reported that two soldiers
were badly injured during the incursion.
Palestinian
sources said about 30 Israeli armored vehicles and seven bulldozers
rolled into an 800-meter (yard) section of Khan Yunis, occupying an
entire neighborhood.
Israeli
bulldozers razed at least three buildings, leaving nearly 60 people
homeless, Palestinian security sources said.
Israeli
military sources confirmed destroying at least one building which they
said was the home of Mohammed Sinwar, a local leader of Hamas resistance
group.
A
spokesman for the Israeli army claimed the attacks targeted “armed
Palestinians who had approached (Israeli) forces.”
The
new fatalities bring to 4,528 the number of people killed since the
outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada against the Israeli occupation in September
2000, including 3,498 Palestinians and 956 Israelis.
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A
wounded Palestinian is taken to Khan Yunis hospital (AFP)
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The
new Israeli offensive comes a few days after the occupation forces
redeployed its troops in the northern Gaza Strip ending a 17-day
onslaught.
At
least 137 Palestinians, including many children, were killed in the
Israeli operation in Jabaliya, a refugee camp of 100,000, in the
deadliest military onslaught on
Gaza
since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada.
Around
100 houses were leveled in Jabaliya and neighboring Beit Lahia, scenes
of the heaviest destruction.
The
bloody Israeli incursion, which plunged the northern Gaza Strip in scenes
of anguish, came under a double
attack Monday, October 18, from the Human Rights Watch and UN Relief
and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
A
10-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl died
of her wounds after Israeli snipers shot her in the chest while she
was sitting inside a UN-run school in a
Gaza
refugee camp.
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