Massacre: Dozens killed by Israeli shelling of UN school in Jabaliya

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  17:04
Updated 21:30

Gaza – Ma’an –

Israeli occupation terrorist forces killed dozens of Palestinians at a UN school that was sheltering displaced people in Jabaliya Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip late on Tuesday afternoon.

John Ging, Director of Operations in Gaza of UNRWA, said that 30 people died and 55 others were injured when three Israeli artillery shells landed at the perimeter of the school.

Ma'an spoke with witnesses who saw two shells exploding at the school. Medical officials at Gaza hospitals said 42 were killed.

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military onslaught had taken shelter in the school.

Witnesses reported ambulances and private cars evacuating the dead and wounded, some of whom appeared to have been blown to pieces. Many women and children are said to be among the dead. Hundreds of people were reported to be in the area of the school at the time of the shelling.

Ma’an’s reporter said that dozens more, all civilians, were injured in the attack on the Al-Fakhoura School. The death toll is expected to rise as a number of the wounded are said to be in critical condition. Ambulances were initially unable reach the school.

No shelter

The school is operated by UNRWA, the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees. UNRWA has been using its schools to house some of the 15,000 Gazans who have fled their homes due to Israel's ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, which began on Saturday.

UNRWA says it handed over the GPS coordinates of all UN installations throughout the Gaza Strip to the Israeli occupation terrorist forces. The school was clearly marked as a UN facility.

Earlier on Tuesday, the United Nations confirmed that three refugees had been killed at 11:30 on Monday night when Israeli occupation terrorist forces fired directly on a UNRWA school in Gaza City.

According to the UN, Another UNRWA school also came under fire in the city of Rafah. An UNRWA health clinic in Al-Buraij Refugee Camp was also damaged when an Israeli missile hit an adjacent building, injuring ten medics and patients.

"There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized," said John Ging, the top UN official in Gaza. He also said that people in Gaza are "entitled" to action by the international community to stop the Israeli invasion.

"I am appealing to political leaders here and in the region and the world to get their act together and stop this," he said, speaking at Gaza's largest hospital. "They are responsible for these deaths."

”I am not apologizing”

Israeli terrorist army Spokeswoman Avital Leibovich claimed that a mortar had been fired from the school, and that Israeli occupation terrorist forces responded with one mortar shell.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Leibovich said she had “no information” about whether Israeli forces had obtained the GPS coordinates of the school.

“Let me be clear – I am not apologizing,” Leibovich said in response to a presenter’s question.

Ma’an attempted to contact the Israeli military spokesperson’s office with no success.

Tuesday's attack has drawn comparisons to the 1996 Israeli shelling of a UN compound in Qana, southern Lebanon, in which 106 civilians were killed.

Hamas has condemned the attack as a "massacre."

Israeli occupation forces bomb UNRWA school killing 45 civilians

[ 06/01/2009 - 08:53 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

An Israeli air raid and artillery fire targeting the UN-run Al-Fakhoura school on Tuesday killed 45 Palestinian citizens including children and wounded 50 others some of whom were in serious conditions while three civilians were killed, Monday night, in a direct Israeli attack on another UNRWA school sheltering civilians.

According to the UNRWA, the victims in Monday night raid were among over four hundred people, who, earlier in the evening, had fled their homes in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and had been given refuge in the UNRWA school.

These attacks raised the number of victims killed to more than 620 Palestinians and the wounded to about 2,750 since the Israeli occupation terrorist forces started their aggression two weeks ago.

UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna strongly denounced Israel for targeting the school, describing what happened as a dangerous action.

Abu Hasna pointed out that Israel already know the locations of the UNRWA buildings, adding that there were flags fluttering over the school before it was bombed.

Earlier, Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported that the ambulance crews recovered on Tuesday bodies of 23 Palestinians killed during Israeli raids in different areas in Gaza.

The channel said that 10 Palestinian citizens were killed today as a result of the ongoing Israeli shelling which had started since the early morning hours.

The channel also talked about fierce confrontations between Palestinian resistance fighters and invading IOF troops near Beit Lahia in north Gaza.

Bloody day in Gaza: 82 killed in 24 hours

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  21:45
Gaza – Ma’an –

The Israeli occupation terrorist forces escalated its operations in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing at least 82 Palestinians in less than 24 hours.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 640 have been killed over eleven days of Israeli attacks on Gaza. More than 2,850 have been killed.

As many as 42 were killed when Israeli tank shells hit the UN-operated Al-Fakhoura school in Jabaliya Refugee Camp, where Palestinians took shelter after fleeing their homes.

Separately, Palestinian cameraman Basil Faraj, who works for an Algerian television network, succumbed to wounds he sustained days ago. Faraj died in Egyptian hospital where he was taken for treatment.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli occupation terrorist forces targeted another UN school in Al-Shati' refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip killing three people from one family. They were identified as 17-year-old Abid As-Sultan, 24-year-old Mahmoud Al-Sultan and 26-year-old Jamal As-Sultan.

In the Zaytoon neighborhood in Gaza City, 13 members of the Al-Daya family were killed, five of whom were removed from the rubble of their house on Tuesday morning; 59-year-old Fayiz Ad-Daya, his daughter 24-year-old Sabrin Ad-Daya, his son 34-year-old Iyad Al-Daya, Iyad’s wife, 26-year-old Rawda Ad-Daya and the couple’s daughter 4-year-old Kawkab Al-Daya. The other eight victims were removed in the evening.

Hamas: Palestinian fighter blows self up inside Israeli tank

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  16:15
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

A Palestinian has committed the first suicide bombing in fighting with invading Israeli forces in Gaza, Hamas’ armed forces said on Tuesday.

According to Abu Ubayda, the spokesman of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas fighters managed to lure a group of Israeli soldiers into a building in the town of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. While those soldiers clashed with the first group of fighters, another man climbed into an Israeli tank and blew himself up.

The Israeli occupation terrorist forces did not confirm this account. The military spokesperson's office did say that "Paratrooper forces operating in northern Gaza identified a suicide bomber approaching them in order to detonate himself against the soldiers. The troops fired at the man, causing his suicide belt to detonate. One soldier was lightly wounded in the incident."

In a related development, Israeli media said yesterday their soldiers shot a Palestinian fighter carrying explosive belt, and as he exploded, an Israeli occupation soldier was hurt.

Ubu Ubayda claimed that hundreds of Hamas fighters ready to blow themselves up will be waiting for Israeli soldiers. He highlighted that fierce clashes erupted in elevated areas near Gaza City that Israeli occupation terrorist forces had captured, such as Al-Rayis hill, Al-Kashif hill and Al-Atatra. Fierce clashes erupted also in open area west of Beit Lahiya, he added.

The spokesperson also referred to “dozens” of dead among Israeli occupation soldiers, asserting that Palestinian resistance used heavy explosive devices weighing 60 kilograms.

Palestinian projectiles, Grad, and mortars land near Netivot, Eshkol, Gedera

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  10:53
Bethlehem - Ma'an -

Israeli media reported the landing of several projectiles, a 60s-era Grad missile and dozens of mortars at Israeli targets throughout the western Negev Tuesday morning.

One infant was said to have been lightly injured in Gedera and dozens were treated for shock, according to Israeli sources.

The projectiles come on the 11th day of a massive Israeli operation in the Gaza strip, said to be aimed at rooting out projectile launchers.

The operation has killed nearly 600 Palestinians and Israeli tanks are currently in Gaza, surrounding Gaza City, and positioned in the central region near Der Al-Balah.

Six-year-old girl narrowly escapes blast that killed family

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  19:45
Gaza – Ma’an –

 Six-year-old Dalal Abu Eisha's family is dead but through pure coincidence, the young girl escaped Israeli shelling that killed her immediate relatives in western Gaza City.

In a somewhat lucky series of events, Dalal left with her grandmother hours before an Israeli projectile slammed into her family's home.

The two had gone to visit the family of another infant victim of Israel's massive aerial and ground incursion into the Gaza Strip.

Ruba Abu Ras was just a toddler, Dalal's cousin, killed by an Israeli missile while out with her mother who was buying some things for the children.

Sixty five-year-old Turkiyya Abu Aisha, Dalal's grandmother, had wanted to share with her daughter the mourning over the death of little Ruba Abu Ras, unaware too that her son and his family were soon to be dead.

So on Monday, Dalal was mourning the loss of her baby cousin at her aunt's home in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, where she decided to spend the night. She too was unaware that within hours, her entire family would be dead.

The six-year-old girl awoke on Tuesday to discover that her father Amir, her mother Naheel, her brothers 9-year-old Muhammad, 12-year-old Sayid, 5-year-old Ahmad and sister, 7-year-old Ghada, had all been killed.

Three married brothers from the Abu Aisha family lived in the two-story building. Two of the brothers and their wives had found refuge in a basement to protect their children from Israeli shelling.

But the third, 'Aamir, had more faith in the Israeli military, knowing that no weapons or militants were inside his home. The father assumed his children would be safe sleeping in their rooms, seeing no reason to unnecessarily disrupt their lives.

'Aamir did not live long enough to see just how misplaced his confidence was; the father was killed along with the rest of his family, shortly after tucking them in, and save six-year-old Dalal.

According to one of his surviving sister-in-laws, "At exactly midnight we heard a terrible explosion and a wall collapsed on us. With fear and strong will, I removed the rubble and stood up, hugging my youngest child close."

"Then I removed some rubble off two of my (other) children. I turned on my cell phone to use its light and discovered that another wall had fallen over my five-year-old son, Amr, just before my husband realized he was dead," Sirin Abu Aisha told Ma'an.

Soon after, her husband began searching for the rest of the family, and "we left the basement out of fear that the house might collapse over our heads. We realized that the staircase and the upper floor had already collapsed, however, and there was no sign of life there," she added.

"But my husband thought his brother 'Aamir had found refugee elsewhere else. We tried to call him on his cell phone, but there was no answer," she said.

"Two hours later, neighbors who had started removing rubble found parts of human bodies, and we realized that 'Aamir was dead, along with the rest of the family."

UN: Israel had school's GPS coordinates before deadly strikes

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  18:12
Bethlehem - Ma'an -

Three members of the same Palestinian family were killed whilst taking shelter in a United Nations school designated as a temporary refuge from the violence on Monday night, the UN told Ma'an.

But well before the current fighting, the UN says it had given Israeli government the GPS coordinates of all its installations in Gaza, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency school, which was struck by an Israeli missile on Monday.

"These tragic incidents need to be investigated, and if international humanitarian law has been contravened, those responsible must held accountable," said UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory Maxwell Gaylard in a statement.

"There are no safe places to flee. We call on all parties to uphold international humanitarian law and protect civilians," he added.

In addition yesterday, an entire family of five children and their parents were killed when the Israeli army shelled their home.

"These deaths highlight the tragic reality of the situation in Gaza that for civilians, neither homes nor UN shelters are safe," the UN coordinator told Ma'an.

"Nearly one and a half million civilians are dangerously exposed to the fighting around them. There are no safe places to flee. We call on all parties to uphold international humanitarian law and protect civilians," he added.

More than 500 people have been killed and more than 2,400 injured in the past ten days. As one of the most densely populated places in the world, "it is clear that more civilians will be killed; more homes, buildings and civilian infrastructure will be destroyed, if the conflict continues," Gaylord said.

"I reiterate the secretary-general’s call for an immediate cessation to this violence. Human beings have the right to life, liberty, and security no matter who they are and where they live," he added.

26 Residential buildings and schools targeted in Gaza

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  15:34
Gaza – Ma’an –

More than 26 residential buildings and schools were targeted by Israeli fire on Tuesday, causing more casualties amongst women and children, witnesses in Gaza said.

Sources at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said five dead bodies arrived at the medical center in a civilian car after their homes were shelled. The sources asserted that several homes were bombarded in eastern Gaza City, and that ambulances could not access the area to evacuate victims because Israeli forces are shooting at ambulances.

Separately, A 15-year-old boy was killed when an Israeli drone fired a missile at him while he was walking in the street in the center of Gaza City. An eyewitness called Ra’fat Al-Khudari said the boy was walking a bike when the drone targeted him killing him immediately.

A home was also shelled near Al-Quds Open University in Shaikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, and another at Al-Buraij camp in the central Gaza Strip. Reports say there were casualties.

UN aid agency calls on Israel to allow journalists, fuel into Gaza

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  14:21
Gaza – Ma’an –

The director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the UN's Palestine refugee agency, on Tuesday called on both sides to end the "unprecedented" situation in the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA Director of Operations John Ging said Israelis and Palestinians, as well as European leaders, must call for an immediate ceasefire, describing the situation on the ground in Gaza as "insanity, unprecedented in history."

Speaking at a news conference at Gaza City's Ash-Shifa Hospital, Ging appealed for an end to the hostilities, saying that "you shouldn't sleep or eat before you stop this killing of innocent people in the Gaza Strip."

He also slammed Israel's ban on foreign journalists in the war zone, saying, "I came to Ash-Shifa Hospital to report the truth of what is going on, since there is no international press in Gaza to report it."

Earlier this week, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the army is required to allow foreign journalists into the besieged coastal strip, but so far Israel has refused to permit any reporter to enter.

The UN worker applauded the hospital's medics for their efforts, highlighting that they face several obstacles in trying to rescue injured Palestinians, due to a shortage of medical equipment.

He asserted that the hospital is "about to collapse" as its power generators have stopped working and UN supplies are running low. Ging called on Israel to allow the shipment of fuel into Gaza in order to operate the sole power station, affirming that one million people in the area are without electricity and some 700,000 without water.

The UN official also condemned Israel's assaults against UN schools, which killled three civilians on Tuesday. He asked Israel to use political means to end the conflict, rather than its military.

UN aid agency calls on Israel to allow journalists, fuel into Gaza

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  14:21
Gaza – Ma’an –

The director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the UN's Palestine refugee agency, on Tuesday called on both sides to end the "unprecedented" situation in the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA Director of Operations John Ging said Israelis and Palestinians, as well as European leaders, must call for an immediate ceasefire, describing the situation on the ground in Gaza as "insanity, unprecedented in history."

Speaking at a news conference at Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, Ging appealed for an end to the hostilities, saying that "you shouldn't sleep or eat before you stop this killing of innocent people in the Gaza Strip."

He also slammed Israel's ban on foreign journalists in the war zone, saying, "I came to Al-Shifa Hospital to report the truth of what is going on, since there is no international press in Gaza to report it."

Earlier this week, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the Israeli occupation army is required to allow foreign journalists into the besieged coastal strip, but so far Israel has refused to permit any reporter to enter.

The UN worker applauded the hospital's medics for their efforts, highlighting that they face several obstacles in trying to rescue injured Palestinians, due to a shortage of medical equipment.

He asserted that the hospital is "about to collapse" as its power generators have stopped working and UN supplies are running low. Ging called on Israel to allow the shipment of fuel into Gaza in order to operate the sole power station, affirming that one million people in the area are without electricity and some 700,000 without water.

The UN official also condemned Israel's assaults against UN schools, which killled three civilians on Tuesday. He asked Israel to use political means to end the conflict, rather than its military.

Three more Palestinians die in hospital of wounds from Israeli air and ground strikes

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  14:18
Bethlehem/Gaza - Ma’an -

Three Palestinians died of wounds sustained in Israeli air and naval strikes Tuesday.

In Egypt, 12-year-old Sulaiman Baraka from Gaza City died at As-Salam Hospital in Cairo of wounds he sustained on New Year’s Eve.

In a second Egyptian hospital 20-year-old Eyhab Al-Harrazin from the Shuja’iyya neighborhood in Gaza City succumbed to his wounds sustained at the start of the ground invasion of Gaza.

Sources at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said a member of Al-Samouni family died of wounds sustained on Monday.

The total number of critically wounded Palestinians to die as a result of the wounds sustained during the Israeli airstrikes and invasion of Gaza is nine.

Three killed as Israeli occupation forces strike UN schools in Gaza

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  14:17
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Three Palestinians were killed overnight in an Israeli terrorist attack on a United Nations school that was housing people displaced by the violence in Gaza, the UN’s relief agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday.

In a statement circulated on Tuesday, UNRWA said that Israeli forces attacked the Asma Elementary School in Gaza City, which is currently sheltering 400 people who fled their homes in the town of Beit Lahiya.

The school was clearly marked as a United Nations installation.

The three men, 24-year-old Hussain Mahmoud Abedul Malek Al-Sultan, 19-year-old Abed Samir Ali Al Sultan, and 25-year-old Rawhi Jamal Ramadan Al Sultan, were killed at 11:30 Monday night as they left the school toilet, which was shortly before the compound took a direct hit.

The director of the UN general commissioner’s office in Gaza, Adnan Abu Hassanah, said that another UN facility, the Al-Shoaka School in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, was also bombarded. No details were immediately available about the civilians who had taken shelter in the school.

UNRWA is strongly protesting the killings to the Israeli authorities and is calling for an immediate and impartial investigation. “Where it is found that international humanitarian law has been violated, those responsible must be held to account,” UNRWA said.

Well before the current fighting, UNRWA said it had given Israeli authorities the GPS coordinates of all its installations in Gaza, including Asma Elementary School.

“This tragic incident again illustrates the most urgent need for an end to the fighting. It also underlines the sad reality facing those fleeing the violence that unless there is a lasting ceasefire, there will remain pervasive risks to civilian lives in Gaza today,” the agency added.

UNRWA is a relief agency that provides services to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East.

Media blackout continues; no foreign journalists allowed into Gaza

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  11:13
Bethlehem - Ma’an/Agencies -

Despite a 1 January decision to allow foreign journalists into Gaza, not one has been able to enter the area.

A petition was handed to the Israeli High Court by the Foreign Press Association in Israel, demanding that Israel cease their media blackout in Gaza, imposed since early November.

Israeli officials announced on New Year’s Day that they would allow eight journalists at a time into the Gaza Strip through the northern Erez crossing, “When it is open.”

The crossing was scheduled to be open briefly when Israel was set to allow almost 250 Gazans holding foreign passports out of the area. The crossing was cancelled due to the security situation in the area, and access denied to the journalists wishing to enter the Strip. Israeli sources said officers at the crossing were too busy processing the Gazans leaving the area to work on allowing access to the foreign press.

A small handful of international journalists are currently in Gaza, having refused to leave the area despite Israeli warnings that the crossings would be closed and they would be unable to leave. Several international news agencies have hired local journalists to report from the area, since they are prohibited from leaving the area by Israel.

The foreign journalists who demanded access to the Gaza Strip are for the most part now reporting from the border area outside Gaza.

The FPA demanded that journalists be allowed into the area, and accused Israel of allowing reporters to cover only “one side” of the conflict.

The organization was responsible for compiling a list of journalists to be allowed into Gaza, and confirms that not one has been allowed in despite thorough security checks. The FPA will not make the names public until the journalists are safely in Gaza.

Four killed as Israeli forces shell market in Al-Buraij Refugee Camp.

Date: 06 / 01 / 2009  Time:  02:05
Gaza – Ma’an –

Israeli artillery shelling killed four people and wounded 16 others in a market in Al-Buraij Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip late on Monday, witnesses told Al-Jazeera.

The killings bring the total number of Palestinians killed on Monday to 46.

Israeli tanks reportedly fired three shells into the market.

Heavy shelling and airstrikes continues across the Strip.