Israeli forces injure 5 medics after 'targeting' Gaza ambulance

Published yesterday (updated) 12/04/2014 10:05

(MaanImages/file)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Five Palestinian medics suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces fired a tear gas canister at their ambulance in the northern Gaza Strip, a medical official said.

Spokesman for the Gaza Strip ministry of health Ashraf al-Qidra said that Israeli forces had "targeted" three military ambulances near the Eastern Cemetery east of Jabaliya.

The five medics were treated on the scene, he added.

The circumstances of the reported attack were not immediately clear.

An Israeli military spokeswoman had no information regarding the incident.

Israeli forces fire tank shell near Erez crossing, no injuries

Published Thursday 10/04/2014 (updated) 11/04/2014 19:42

(MaanImages)

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Israeli forces fired on Thursday morning fired an artillery shell at an open area in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses told Ma’an.

The tank shell landed in an open area near Erez crossing.

The area, according to witnesses, was an Israeli industrial zone before the Israeli forces disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

No injuries have been reported.

Israeli forces injure 4 Palestinians in shootings near Gaza border

Published Thursday 10/04/2014 (updated) 11/04/2014 17:41

(MaanImages/file)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Four Palestinians were injured across the Gaza Strip on Thursday as Israeli forces opened fire in two incidents and fired a tank shell into the besieged Palestinian enclave, medical sources said.

A young Palestinian was shot and injured by Israeli forces east of Jabaliya refugee camp north of Gaza on Thursday afternoon.

Spokesman for the Gaza Strip ministry of heath Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma'an that a 24-year-old was shot in the foot near the eastern cemetery.

He was taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital with moderate injuries, al-Qidra added.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said that "suspects approached the fence and were called numerous times to stop," but after they failed to do so soldiers opened fire towards their "lower extremities." She could not confirm any hits.

The shooting follows an incident in the morning when three Palestinian men were shot and injured by Israeli fire near the Erez/Beit Hanoun crossing in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical and security sources said.

The sources said Israeli troops stationed on monitor towers opened fire at workers collecting small stones from fields to be used for making concrete, injuring three workers seriously.

Palestinian ambulances evacuated the victims to Kamal Udwan hospital.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said Israeli forces fired at Palestinians who had gathered near the crossing after the failed to respond to warning shots and riot-dispersal means.

She could not confirm if any direct hits were registered.

Earlier, Israeli forces fired an artillery shell at an open area in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses told Ma'an.

The tank shell landed in an open area near Erez crossing.

The area, according to witnesses, was an Israeli industrial zone before Israeli forces disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005. No injuries were reported in that incident.

The National Resistance Brigades, a military wing affiliated to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, told Ma'an that fighters affiliated to the group detonated an explosive device near the crossing.

Israeli forces frequently shoot at farmers and other civilians inside the Gaza Strip if they approach large swathes of land near the border that the Israeli military has deemed off-limits to Palestinians.

The "security buffer zone" extends between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zones.

According to UNOCHA, 17 percent of Gaza's total land area and 35 percent of its agricultural land were within the buffer zone as of 2010, directly affecting the lives and livelihoods of more than 100,000 Gazans.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe economic blockade imposed by the State of Israel since 2006.

The blockade has severely limited the imports and exports of the Gaza Strip and has led to frequent humanitarian crises and hardship for Gazans.

Israeli miltary vehicles 'enter Gaza,' warships fire at fishermen

Published Tuesday 08/04/2014 (updated) 09/04/2014 11:51

 

(MaanImages)

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Several Israeli military vehicles entered the southern Gaza Strip early Tuesday, witnesses told Ma'an.

Locals said six military vehicles entered Gaza east of al-Qarara. No shooting was reported.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was not familiar with the incident.

Separately, Israeli warships opened fire at Palestinian fishermen off the coast of northern Gaza City, causing damages to one fishing boat.

A fisherman told Ma'an an Israeli naval squadron fired at Palestinian boats near the al-Sudaniyya neighborhood. No injuries were reported.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she knew of "several instances where boats deviated from their designated fishing zones" overnight off the coast of Gaza.

The spokeswoman said the Israeli navy fired warning shots into the air or in the vicinity of the Palestinian boats, but not directly at the boats or the fishermen.

In the Oslo Accords, Israel agreed to a 20-nautical-mile fishing zone off Gaza's coast but it has imposed a three-mile limit for several years, opening fire at fishermen who stray further.

Israel has controlled Gaza's waters since its occupation of the area in 1967, and has stationed warships off the coast since 2008.

There are some 4,000 fishermen in Gaza. According to a 2011 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross, 90 percent are poor, a 40 percent increase from 2008 resulting from Israeli limits on the fishing industry.

Israeli military vehicles enter Gaza, 'fire shell'

Published Monday 07/04/2014 (updated) 08/04/2014 11:32

 

(MaanImages/File)

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli military vehicles entered the central Gaza Strip early Monday, witnesses told Ma'an.

Locals said six bulldozers escorted by military vehicles and tanks drove about 150 meters into Gaza east of Deir al-Balah.

A tank fired a mortar shell towards a Palestinian neighborhood, but no injuries were reported, witnesses added.

Bulldozers leveled lands in the area before they returned to the Israeli side of the border.

An Israeli military spokeswoman called the army's presence in the area "routine activity adjacent to the border fence" but was not familiar with any mortar shells being fired.

In a separate incident, she said the army prevented "a terror attack" in Gaza.

The army said in an emailed statement that "two suspects approached the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip, carrying a suspicious object and tampering with the ground."

"IDF (Israeli army) forces fired warning shots and the suspects fled the scene, leaving the object. Moments later the object exploded."

No injuries or damages were reported.

Israeli bulldozers enter Gaza border area, level agricultural land

Published Thursday 03/04/2014 13:16

 

(MaanImages/file)

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli military vehicles entered a border area in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday and leveled Palestinian agricultural lands.

Eyewitnesses told Ma'an that six bulldozers accompanied by Israeli tanks entered an area east of Rafah and leveled agricultural land.

Several aircraft patrols were seen in the area, locals added.

Israeli forces fire at activists planting trees in southern Gaza

Published Monday 31/03/2014 (updated) 31/03/2014 21:16

 

(MaanImages/File)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli soldiers opened fire at Palestinian activists planting trees in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, witnesses said.

Activists told Ma'an that Israeli soldiers stationed in watchtowers near the border town of Khuzaa shot at the activists, who were planting olive trees to mark Land Day east of Khan Younis.

Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said there were no injuries.

The activity was organized by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

DFLP official Talal Abu Tharifa told Ma'an: "Farmers planted olive trees in their own fields to tell the Israeli occupation that they must leave."

An Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma'an that the Palestinians in the area were "tampering with the security fence."

"Soldiers opened fire into the air" and the Palestinians dispersed, she said.

Land Day marks the death of six Palestinian citizens of Israel, who took part in a general strike in protest of an Israeli decision to confiscate privately owned Palestinian lands on March 30, 1976.

Israeli forces frequently shoot at farmers and other civilians inside the Gaza Strip if they approach large swathes of land near the border that the military has deemed off-limits to Palestinians.

According to OCHA, 17 percent of Gaza's total land area and 35 percent of its agricultural land were within the buffer zone as of 2010, directly affecting the lives and livelihoods of more than 100,000 Gazans.

Israeli forces shoot, injure 2 in Gaza

Published yesterday (updated) 22/03/2014 08:22

 

(MaanImages/file)

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Friday shot and injured two Palestinians east of Jabaliya refuge camp in the northern Gaza Strip, medical officials said.

They told Ma'an that two people were taken to nearby hospitals in moderate condition after being shot near the eastern cemetery in the camp.

An Israeli army spokesman said forces identified two hits after firing on two Palestinians who attempted to climb over a security fence and failed to respond to warnings.

In early March, Israeli forces shot and killed 57-year-old Aminah Qudeih east of Khan Younis when she approached the separation barrier between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

The woman's relatives told AP she was mentally ill, and assumed she wandered toward the border by mistake.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the Hebron district.

Witnesses said the victim had been foraging for local plants when he was shot, but the army claimed he and two others had been vandalising the security fence.

Israeli military forces have killed 57 Palestinians and injured 897 since the resumption of peace negotiations with Israel in July, the Palestine Liberation Organization said this week.

Crowds bury 'mentally ill' Gaza woman shot dead by Israeli forces

Published yesterday (updated) 02/03/2014 11:25

 

(MaanImages)

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Large crowds turned out to mourn the death of a 57-year-old Gaza woman on Saturday, hours after Israeli forces shot her dead as she walked near the separation barrier in the southern Gaza Strip.

Mourners taking part in the funeral for Aminah Qudeih in the city of Khan Younis called for a response to the killing, demanding Palestinian leadership hold Israeli authorities accountable by appealing for justice at the International Criminal Court.

Although Qudeih was shot by Israeli forces east of Khan Younis late Friday, ambulance crews were prevented from reaching her until Saturday morning, at which time they found her dead.

Abu Anas Qudeih, a relative of the woman, told Ma'an that Aminah had gotten lost on her way home from a party at her neighbors' house.

He added that although she had not approached the buffer zone that Israeli maintains near the border, Israeli forces had opened fire on her as she walked and killed her.

Qudeih added that "the policy of the enemy is blood," adding that Israel "does not understand anything except the language of resistance."

The woman's relatives told AP she was mentally ill, and assumed she wandered toward the border by mistake.

Abd al-Aziz Qudeih, a leader in the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, condemned the attack, calling upon Palestinian leadership to go the international courts and prosecute Israel for its "crimes."

He said that Israel used a policy of "intimidation" to force Palestinians to flee their lands.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an that after telling the suspect to stop, and firing warning shots into the air, Israeli forces opened fire on her "lower extremities."

Israeli forces frequently shoot at farmers and other civilians inside the Gaza Strip if they approach large swathes of land near the border that the Israeli military has deemed off-limits to Palestinians.

The "security buffer zone" extends between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zones.

According to UNOCHA, 17% of Gaza's total land area and 35% of its agricultural land were within the buffer zone as of 2010, directly affecting the lives and livelihoods of more than 100,000 Gazans.

Israeli forces shoot, kill Palestinian woman in southern Gaza

Published yesterday (updated) 01/03/2014 17:36

 

(MaanImages)

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian woman was shot dead by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza Strip late Friday, witnesses and medics said.

Witnesses said 57-year-old Aminah Atiyeh Qudeih was shot and killed by Israeli forces east of Khan Younis when she approached the separation barrier between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Ambulances were not allowed access to the area at the time, and when they reached the area Saturday morning, Qudeih was found dead, witnesses said.

The woman's relatives told AP she was mentally ill, and assumed she wandered toward the border by mistake.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said a suspect approached the border fence east of Khan Younis late Friday.

After telling the suspect to stop and firing warning shots into the air, "Israeli forces fired toward the lower extremities," the spokeswoman said.

"Hits were confirmed," she said.

The site of the woman's death saw demonstrations Friday, and Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters and warning shots into the air. No injuries were reported.

Also Friday, a man in Beit Lahiya the northern Gaza Strip was shot in the leg by Israeli forces during a similar protest.

The man, who is in his twenties but has not been identified by name, was shot in the leg near Beit Lahiya and taken to hospital with moderate injuries.

On Feb. 13, Israeli forces killed Ibrahim Suleiman Mansour, 26, after shooting him in the head during a protest near the border east of Gaza City.