Two Palestinian workers wounded in IOF shelling

[ 09/11/2010 - 05:38 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Palestinian workers were wounded on Tuesday when the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired an artillery shell at a group of workers collecting gravel south of Gaza Strip. Adham Abu Salmiya, the coordinator of medical services in the Strip, said that an IOF tank fired a shell at the workers near the Soufa crossing to the east of Rafah, south of the Strip, wounding two of them. He added that one of them was a 17-year-old and the other a 25-year-old youth, noting that their injuries were slight to moderate. IOF troops routinely target gravel collectors killing two and injuring dozens over the past couple of years. Many unemployed Palestinian workers head to border areas to collect gravel from destroyed buildings to sell them in the market to meet the need for construction material that was banned from entry into the Strip by the IOF.

IOF troops advance in central Gaza

[ 09/11/2010 - 10:42 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- A number of Israeli armored vehicles advanced in central Gaza east of the Maghazi refugee camp on Tuesday morning, Palestinian security sources told the PIC reporter. They said that seven military vehicles, including tanks, armed personnel carriers, and bulldozers advanced amidst intensive firing at citizens' homes. The sources noted that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) escorted the bulldozers while damaging Palestinian cultivated land lots east of the refugee camp. ------------  9-11-2010 Al Mezan Limited IOF Incursion in Middle Gaza At approximately 9am on Tuesday 9 November 2010, two Israeli tanks and armored bulldozers moved about 250 meters to the northeast of Al Maghazi refugee camp, in the Middle Gaza district. Bulldozers leveled the lands in the area. At approximately 12pm on the same day, two Israeli helicopters hovered over the same area. Tanks and bulldozers had still been working in the area when this headline was published at 1:20pm today, 11 November 2010.

IOF troops fire at residential quarters in Rafah

[ 08/11/2010 - 11:09 AM ]

RAFAH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired at Palestinian citizens' homes and land east of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday night but no casualties were reported. Media sources said that the soldiers stationed at military watchtowers in the vicinity of Karm Abu Salem military base opened intermittent, indiscriminate fire at the Dehniya and airport areas.

Soldiers shoot worker on north Gaza border

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- A Palestinian man was injured Sunday when Israeli forces opened fire at a group of workers collecting stone aggregates near an evacuated Israeli settlement in northern Gaza.

Eyewitnesses said 19-year-old Karam Al-Adham was shot in his left leg near the abandoned Eli Sinai structure northwest of Beit Lahiya. He was evacuated to hospital, where medics said he sustained moderate injuries.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that a force fired on two Palestinians who "approached the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip. The force fired warning shots, and when the two did not leave the scene, he fired at the lower body and identified a hit."

Workers are targeted nearly every day, and 25 Palestinian civilians have been killed in the border area since the end of Israel's three-week offensive on Gaza that ended in January 2009.

As Israel bans concrete and crushed stone for construction, young men often go to evacuated settlements to collect gravel from buildings that Israeli forces demolished before the unilateral withdrawal in 2005.

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Palestinian worker hit with IOF bullets

[ 07/11/2010 - 10:37 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- A Palestinian worker was hit with a bullet fired by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) east of Gaza city while collecting gravel, medical sources said. Adham Abu Salmiya, the coordinator of medical services, told the PIC that a 20-year-old citizen was hit with a bullet in his foot during his work. The IOF troops routinely target Palestinian workers collecting gravel along the eastern and northern borders of the Gaza Strip that caused many casualties.

Israeli war jets hit southern Gaza targets

GAZA CITY (DPA) -- Israeli war jets struck two targets in southern Gaza Strip Saturday night in response to an earlier homemade projectile fired from Gaza at southern Israel.

No injuries were reported, witnesses and medics said.

The witnesses said that F16 war jets hovered over the southern Gaza Strip area and carried out two successive airstrikes. Air-to-ground rockets were fired and caused two huge explosions.

The first airstrike targeted an empty olive farm east of the city of Khan Younis and the second targeted a smuggling tunnel under the borderline between Egypt and the salient, ruled by the Hamas movement.

Medics at southern Gaza hospitals said that ambulances and rescue crews rushed to the theatre of the airstrikes; no injuries were reported.

The two Israeli airstrikes were carried out several hours after unknown militants fired earlier on Saturday a homemade rocket from Gaza at southern Israel. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Israeli Radio quoted Israeli army sources as saying that the rocket landed on an empty area in southern Israel causing no damages or injuries.

Israel's military said in a statement that its air force "targeted two terror-linked sites in the Southern Gaza Strip. Direct hits as well as secondary blasts were identified," it said.

The statement added that the Israeli army holds "the Hamas terrorist organization solely responsible for maintaining the calm in the Gaza Strip and for any terrorist activity emanating from it. The IDF will also continue to respond harshly to any attempt to use terror against the State of Israel."

IOF Shoots Palestinian Civilian Collecting Scrap North of Beit Lahyia

7-11-2010

Al Mezan

At app. 7:15am on Monday [sic] 7 November 2010, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened fire at Palestinian civilians who were collecting scrap and rubble from the destroyed structures near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel. They were 200 metres from the border fence near the evacuated settlement Eli Sinai, northwest of Beit Lahyia town in the North Gaza district. As a result, Karam Talal Rezeq Al Adham, 19, was injured in the left leg, causing a fracture. Medical sources at Kamal Odwan Hospital described his injury as severe. The civilians were terrified and left the area without finishing their work.

Israeli Aircraft Attacks an Open Area east of Khan Younis

6-11-2010

Al Mezan

At app. 10:10pm on Saturday 6 November 2010, Israeli aircraft fired a missile at an open area 500 metres from the separation fence east of As-Serj area, east of Al Qarara village and Khan Younis district. No casualties or injuries were reported. 

 

PCHR weekly report 28/10 - 3/11/2010: 3 Palestinian workers and 1 mentally disabled injured, 1 incursion

extracts from PCHR weekly report 28/10 - 3/11/2010:

 IOF continued to fire at Palestinian workers, farmers and fishermen in border areas in the Gaza Strip.

- 3  Palestinian workers and a mentally disabled civilian  were wounded

During the reporting period, IOF fired at Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials near the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. As a result, 3 workers were wounded. 

On 02 November 2010, Israeli soldiers positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of Khan Yunis wounded a mentally disabled Palestinian civilian near the border.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted one limited incursion into al-Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, during which they leveled areas of Palestinian land, which they had already razed.  

Friday, 29 October  2010

At approximately 09:45, Israeli soldiers stationed on observation towers at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the north of the Bedouin village in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials in Erez industrial zone. As a result, Mohammed Kamal 'Olaiwa, 20, was wounded by a bullet to the left leg, when he was about 450 meters away from the border.

Sunday, 31 October 2010  


t approximately 08:15, Israeli soldiers stationed on a hill at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northwest of Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials from a site where the evacuated Israeli settlement of "Elli Sinai" used to stand. As a result, Nazmi Salim Tanboura, 50, from Beit Lahia, was wounded by a bullet to the thighs, when he was nearly 500 meters away from the border. 

Monday, 01 November 2010  


At approximately 08:45, Israeli soldiers stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the north of Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials from the evacuated Israeli settlements of "Elli Sinai" and "Dogit." The workers fled from the area and no casualties were reported. 

Tuesday, 02 November 2010 


At approximately 11:00, Israeli soldiers stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast of Gaza Valley village in the central Gaza Strip fired at a number of Palestinian civilians who were collecting plastics, iron and aluminum from a garbage plant, nearly 300 meters away from the border. As a result, Hussam 'Abdul Hafez al-Khaldi, 34, was wounded by a bullet to the right shoulder.




At approximately 16:00, Palestinian ambulances were able to evacuate Mahmoud Mohammed Shirrir, 34, from 'Abassan village, east of Khan Yunis, to the European Gaza Hospital, as he was wounded by a bullet to the left ankle. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, Israeli soldiers stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of 'Abassan village fired at Shirrir, who is mentally disabled, when he was a few meters away from the border.

Wednesday, 03 November 2010  


At approximately 19:30, IOF moved nearly 200 meters into the east of al-Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. They leveled areas of Palestinian land. During the incursion, an Israeli tank fired a shell at a space area, but no casualties were reported.

Gazans demonstrate on anniversary of Balfour Declaration

4 November 2010 | International Solidarity Movement

As Israeli army snipers in the control tower at the Erez crossing looked on, Saber Al Za’anin, the General Coordinator of the Local Initiative group spoke passionately about Palestinian resistance on the anniversary of the November 3rd 1917 Balfour Declaration.
“We carry forward the fight of our great grandfathers to dismiss the disgraceful and unjust promise that the UK Foreign Secretary offered to the Zionists to create a state in the middle of Palestine 93 years ago. Here we are, the present-day Palestinian generation standing strong again to uphold the principle of our forefathers and the struggle that has been passed down for us to continue today.”
It was the 93rd anniversary of the Balfour promise, and local volunteers from the Local Initiative group from Beit Hanoun and activists from the International Solidarity Movement demonstrated next to the Israeli border in Beit Hanoun, Northern Gaza. The crowd marched up to 100 metres from the Israeli wall, where previous non-violent demonstrations had been fired upon with live ammunition. The protesters were bringing attention to the horrific injustices that have befallen them since the promise by British occupiers to create a Jewish homeland over an area that was over 90% Palestinian Arab.
The demonstration took place near the Erez border , near the Israeli imposed ‘buffer zone’ – an area of land 300 metres from the fence stretching along the entire border fence. A United Nations investigation found that farmers, rubble collectors, civilians and protesters have been shot up 1500 metres of the fence, which makes 35% of Gaza’s most agricultural land a high risk area to access, causing severe loss of food production and livelihoods.
The demonstrators approached the Israeli wall, stopping at a barbed wire fence and ditch created by a bulldozer during an Israeli incursion over a month before in which 3 farm workers we killed. Planting one Palestinian flag at the fence, they chanted and waved flags before people spoke of the horrific legacy of the Balfour Declaration.
Local farmer Abzel Al Baseony spoke about the current plight he faces; he stands to lose more land near the border. He has been farming since 1984, taking after his father. He explained how the Israeli army bulldozed much of his land that used to be covered in trees and how afraid people are to farm there now. Like most Palestinians, he was also well aware of Britain’s historical role in facilitating the creation of Israel on Palestinian land.
“It was the British who created this problem allowing the Israeli state to be built on the ruins of our refugees and you’ve seen what they have done to us ever since. During the British mandate before 1947 their attacks on us killed many civilians, and now they, like the American and European Governments, continue to support Israel when it takes our land and bombs our families. But we will keep farming for another 93 years if that’s what it takes to get justice for our people.”
Like over 80% of Gazans, most of the demonstrators were refugees from different Palestinian towns and villages such as Faluja, Min Dimra, Askelaan or Majdel, arab villages located in what is now Israel. In total, 531 villages were wiped out and demolished in 1948 by the Israeli army after their Palestinian inhabitants were violently forced to leave. Ever since they have been refused their right of return.
British International Solidarity Movement activist Adie Mormech believes that people from his country have a duty to right the wrongs of the British involvement in Palestine, which continues today with political, commercial and military support.
“The British Government’s role in the middle east is a sad one, like much of the British empire was for the inhabitants of the countries they were colonizing. Britain contributed similarly the Apartheid system in South Africa. Fortunately many British citizens opposed the apartheid regime, boycotting the South African government until their racist policies had to end. Today in Britain and throughout the world, boycotts, divestment and sanctions of Israel are growing while the international community continues to allow with impunity Israel’s medieval siege of Gaza, it’s military occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem and its continuing discrimination and ethnic cleansing. As was the case for South Africa, it is up to people of conscience around the world to join the movement until Israel adheres to international law and allow Palestinians the same human rights as any other people.”
The demonstration ended without incident, although there was no mistaking the memories and sense of injustice stirred by the anniversary of Balfour, emphasized by the resolution of organiser Saber Al Za’anin:
“We are out from under the rubble of Israeli oppression to prove again to the whole world that the Palestinian people will never accept the ethnic cleansing and murder against us. We will remain steadfast for our rights, our freedom and our land.”

Updated on November 5, 2010

Army Invades Central Gaza

Thursday November 04, 2010 10:01 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli soldiers, supported by a number of armored vehicles and tanks, invaded on Wednesday evening an area east of al-Boreij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Israeli Tank Invading Gaza - File

Eyewitnesses reported that two Merkava tanks and an armored vehicle advanced 200 meters into the camp.

The army fired one shell and dozens of rounds of live ammunition before leaving the area; no arrests were made and no casualties were reported.

Also on Wednesday, the Israeli army claimed responsibility for assassinating a Palestinian fighter in Gaza.

A senior army commander confirmed the attack and stated it was coordinated with the United States.

Israel claimed that the fighter is a member of the Army Of Islam and that he is behind several attacks against the army, and planned attacks against American military targets in the Sinai desert.