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Date: 26 / 09 / 2007 Time: 16:57
Gaza – Ma'an – The death toll in Wednesday's Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 11. More than 30 others were injured in the air and ground incursions.
Medical sources have said the injured are in a critical condition.
Four people died instantly and another was seriously injured when the Israeli airforce bombed a car in which they were travelling, south of Gaza city.
Ma'an's correspondent said that an Israeli airplane launched at least two rockets at the car, carrying the four armed men, thought to be members of the Army of Islam. Three other bystanders were also injured. All the dead and injured were taken to Al-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza City.
The army of Islam denied that their leader Khattab Al-Maqdisi was among the dead, but confirmed that four members of the group were killed.
Mu'awiyah Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency department in the Palestinian Ministry of Health named the victims as Fawzi Al-Ashram, Hussein Ahil, Ayman Dalool, Usama Reifi and Sami Za'im.
Assault on Beit Hanoun
Seven people were killed and a number of others injured when an Israeli artillery shell landed on a house in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
The dead have been identified as Khayri Hamdan, 26, Muhammad Udwan, 20, and Muhammad Basyuni, 24.
Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said two of their fighters were killed by an Israeli airstrike. Raji Hamdan, of Beit Hanoun, and Muhammad Abu Rubka from Jabalia were both killed by shrapnel from a missile fired from an Israeli fighter jet. Hamas said both men were fighting the invading Israeli force.
Palestinian medical sources also confirmed the death of Thaer Basyuni, who succumbed to wounds sustained durign Israeli shelling in Beit Hanoun.
Eyewitnesses told Ma'an that dozens of Israeli tanks and military vehicles invaded Beit Hanoun from four directions, seizing control of the city.
According to local residents, Israeli forces reached the entrance of the town, under the cover of Israeli fighter jets and Apache helicopters firing on agricultural lands.
Mu'awiyah Hassanein said he feared there would be many casualties. He announced that all medical preparations for the incursion had been made, and several additional ambulances had been sent to the north of the Gaza Strip.
Major Israeli invasion appears imminent
Earlier on Wednesday Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, said in an interview on Israeli radio that an "extensive operation" in the Gaza Strip was imminent.
"We will use all our diplomatic means to weaken the Hamas leadership and its effectiveness, but the truth must be told, we are nearing an extensive operation in Gaza, he told Israeli army radio.
However, Barak admitted that the planned incursion into Gaza would not be easy.
According to Ma'an's reporter, there has been an escalation recently in the launching of homemade projectiles by Palestinian factions from the Gaza Strip toward nearby Israeli towns and military sites.
***Last Updated 09:30 Jerusalem Time***
Gaza – Ma'an – The death toll in Wednesday's Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 11. More than 30 others were injured in the air and ground incursions.
Medical sources have said the injured are in a critical condition.
Four people died instantly and another was seriously injured when the Israeli airforce bombed a car in which they were travelling, south of Gaza city.
Ma'an's correspondent said that an Israeli airplane launched at least two rockets at the car, carrying the four armed men, thought to be members of the Army of Islam. Three other bystanders were also injured. All the dead and injured were taken to Al-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza City.
The army of Islam denied that their leader Khattab Al-Maqdisi was among the dead, but confirmed that four members of the group were killed.
Mu'awiyah Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency department in the Palestinian Ministry of Health named the victims as Fawzi Al-Ashram, Hussein Ahil, Ayman Dalool, Usama Reifi and Sami Za'im.
Assault on Beit Hanoun
Seven people were killed and a number of others injured when an Israeli artillery shell landed on a house in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
The dead have been identified as Khayri Hamdan, 26, Muhammad Udwan, 20, and Muhammad Basyuni, 24.
Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said two of their fighters were killed by an Israeli airstrike. Raji Hamdan, of Beit Hanoun, and Muhammad Abu Rubka from Jabalia were both killed by shrapnel from a missile fired from an Israeli fighter jet. Hamas said both men were fighting the invading Israeli force.
Palestinian medical sources also confirmed the death of Thaer Basyuni, who succumbed to wounds sustained durign Israeli shelling in Beit Hanoun.
Eyewitnesses told Ma'an that dozens of Israeli tanks and military vehicles invaded Beit Hanoun from four directions, seizing control of the city.
According to local residents, Israeli forces reached the entrance of the town, under the cover of Israeli fighter jets and Apache helicopters firing on agricultural lands.
Mu'awiyah Hassanein said he feared there would be many casualties. He announced that all medical preparations for the incursion had been made, and several additional ambulances had been sent to the north of the Gaza Strip.
Major Israeli invasion appears imminent
Earlier on Wednesday Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, said in an interview on Israeli radio that an "extensive operation" in the Gaza Strip was imminent.
"We will use all our diplomatic means to weaken the Hamas leadership and its effectiveness, but the truth must be told, we are nearing an extensive operation in Gaza, he told Israeli army radio.
However, Barak admitted that the planned incursion into Gaza would not be easy.
According to Ma'an's reporter, there has been an escalation recently in the launching of homemade projectiles by Palestinian factions from the Gaza Strip toward nearby Israeli towns and military sites.
***Last Updated 09:30 Jerusalem Time***
