|
Fourteen Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on
Friday, the deadliest day of violence since the war more than two years ago. By Mark Weiss in Jerusalem 10:05PM BST 08 Apr 2011
The Telegraph UK Dozens of Palestinians, including children and other civilians, have
also been wounded in the raids, which were launched after an anti-tank
missile fired by a Hamas squad hit an Israeli school bus close to the
border on Thursday, seriously injuring a 16-year-old boy.
Just minutes earlier, dozens of schoolchildren had got off the bus at a
local kibbutz. The missile was one of about 50 the Israeli army said had
been fired across the border on Thursday. Immediately after the attack, Israeli forces shelled the border area
from which the missile had been fired, killing a 50-year-old man and
wounding five others, including a young child. Within hours, a series of air raids had hit targets across Gaza, killing
three more people in Rafah on the Egyptian border, a centre of the arms
smuggling operations run by Hamas. A further body was pulled from the
ruins of the site yesterday. Despite Hamas calling a ceasefire from armed groups operating out of its
territory late on Thursday, Israeli raids continued overnight and rocket
attacks back across the border resumed in the morning. The Palestinian victims on Friday included a mother and her daughter and
a civilian in his 50s as well as at least three Hamas gunmen. An Israeli
army statement accused Hamas of operating from within civilian
populations and using local residents as human shields. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said: "The attack
yesterday on a children's bus is crossing a line. The Israeli army
responded immediately and will continue to act with determination.
Whoever tries to attack and murder children puts his life on the line." But Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, condemned
the Israeli "aggression" and called on the international community to
intervene. He urged the Palestinian factions in Gaza to refrain from
giving Israel an excuse to escalate the situation "and cause more
suffering to our people". Israel's state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defence system managed to
intercept and destroy at least four missiles. Two batteries were
deployed outside the southern cities of Beersheba and Ashkelon. Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said the successful
interceptions were "an extraordinary achievement" for the system, still
in its experimental stage.
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites  |
