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Israeli Missile Hits Gaza
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A
Hamas member was killed by Israeli occupation forces late Tuesday.
(Reuters)
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GAZA,
CITY, May 18, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
Jeopardizing the shaky truce observed by Palestinian resistance
factions, Israeli occupation forces killed Wednesday, May 18, one
Palestinian and seriously wounded another in a missile attack on
southern Gaza Strip.
An
Israeli military source said a missile was fired by an Israeli
aircraft on a group of activists from the Islamic resistance group
Hamas in Khan Yunis area in southern Gaza.
“They
were aerially targeted and we identified hitting one of them,” the
source told Agence France Presse (AFP) Wednesday.
The
source claimed that the “Hamas cell” was preparing a mortar attack
on a nearby Jewish settlement.
“It
was moments before they were about to fire, they had the launcher in
place and the missile was in sight,” the source claimed.
Palestinian
medical sources confirmed that Ahmed Shahwan, a 24-year-old Hamas
member from Khan Yunis, lost both legs and an arm in the Israeli
attack.
The
Israeli missile attack on Gaza was the first since Israel and the
Palestinian resistance factions agreed to observe a de facto truce.
Palestinian
resistance groups agreed on March 17, to abide by the truce until the
end of 2005.
Since
then violence has dropped considerably, but the Israeli government has
repeatedly accused Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas of not doing enough
to disarm the Palestinian factions.
Retaliation
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Hamas
launched mortars at Israeli settlements. (Reuters)
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The
Israeli source said the air strike on Gaza came after five mortar
shells were fired by Hamas at the settlements of Morag and Neve
Dekalim Wednesday, AFP said.
The
Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, confirmed that
its members had fired mortars at Neve Dekalim, the largest Gaza
settlement, and Morag to avenge the death of one of its members late
Tuesday.
Israeli
forces had shot and killed a Hamas member late Tuesday at the edge of
the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza.
“The
Palestinian people will not keep still in the face of Israeli crimes
and aggression,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP after the
air raid Wednesday, describing it as “a serious escalation”.
But
Zuhri stopped short of declaring an end to calm period, saying only:
“Our people know how to defend themselves”.
Following
its member’s death, Hamas issued a statement warning Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon that “the security you are enjoying these days
will not last long if aggression continues against our people”.
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