Israeli strike kills 3 in central Gaza

Published today (updated) 10/01/2010 19:52 Gaza - Ma'an -

At least three Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation forces aircraft fire in central Gaza early Sunday evening, medics reported.

Two of the victims were identified as Hassan Al-Qatarawi and Awad Naseir. They were transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza City.

A third victim's body could not immediately be identified because it was blown to pieces as a result of the airstrike, according to Muawiya Hassanein, the Gaza Health Ministry's director of ambulance and emergency services.

An Israeli occupation army spokesman confirmed that the country's air force was operating in the area. He told Ma'an the airstrike targeted "a squad of terrorists in physical preparation of launching rockets into Israel."

Reuters news agency quoted Hamas sources as saying all three of the slain Palestinians were fighters, which Ma'an could not independently confirm.

Developing...

Earlier, two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli artillery in northern Gaza, Hassanain reported. He said they were shot by tank fire near an excavation site at the former Dugnit settlement. Witnesses reported hearing artillery shelling, expecting those killed to be workers in the area.

An Israeli occupation army spokesman said the army was not familiar with that incident.

Late Thursday night, Israeli warplanes carried out a series of raids on sites throughout the Gaza Strip, killing three Palestinians. A Palestinian was seriously injured in a Israeli artillery shelling on farmlands east of the Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp.

The incident was the latest in an escalating string of cross-border violence, with two projectiles reportedly launched from Gaza and landing in southern Israel on Saturday morning.

Friday saw four airstrikes hit locations across the besieged coastal area, reportedly in retaliation for a series of mortar shell barrages launched by the Al-Nasser Salahuddin Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees.

Two Palestinians Killed As Army Bombards Gaza

Sunday January 10, 2010 10:22 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian medical sources reported on Sunday that two Palestinians were killed after the Israeli occupation army bombarded an area in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli tanks, stationed close to northwestern area of the Gaza Strip opened fire at the two residents and fired rounds of live ammunition into the area.

The two were near the evacuated former settlement of Doughit.

Palestinian medics were not able to retrieve the bodies of the two residents due to continued Israeli fire, while local sources reported that the two are day laborers.

Last week, the Israeli army killed three workers while trying to collect scrap metal near the northern borders of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation army claimed that the shells targeted fighters trying to fire homemade shells into adjacent Israeli areas.

Meanwhile, an Israeli occupation army spokesperson claimed that the army had nothing with the shelling.

Palestinian shot in Hebron by Israeli occupation forces

Published today (updated) 10/01/2010 19:30

Hebron – Ma’an –

Israeli occupation forces shot and injured a Palestinian man near the southern entrance to Hebron in the West Bank.

Israeli occupation soldiers prevented Palestinians from assisting him, and then took him to an unknown location, sources told Ma'an.

The official Israeli police spokesman was not immediately available to comment.

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that Israeli district police in Hebron opened fired at the Palestinian driving near Bani Na'im. According to the Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth, an investigation was launched after the incident, revealing that a car was stolen.

The driver fled the scene and "endangered the police officers' lives when he made a U-turn," the newspaper reported, adding that the driver's injuries were the result of shooting at the car's tires.

The injured was evacuated to the Hadassa Hospital in Jerusalem.

In a related event, 10 Israeli policemen and detectives were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of abusing an alleged Palestinian car thief, according to The Jerusalem Post, an English-language Israeli newspaper.