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Hamas retaliated for Israel’s massacre Thursday of 8 Palestinians, including 2 children
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OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, October 18
(IslamOnline & New Agencies) – The Palestinian Islamic resistance
group Hamas claimed responsibility for a retaliatory attack carried out
Friday, October 18, by an 18-year-old Palestinian eventually killed by
the Israeli occupation army near an illegal Jewish settlement in the
northern Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian had
hurled grenades and opened fire on an occupation army patrol near the
settlement of Dugit on the border between the Gaza Strip, reoccupied by
Israel, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted sources as saying.
The army then returned fire,
killing him, the sources said, adding that two Israeli soldiers were
lightly wounded in the exchange of fire.
The Ezz-el-Din
al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, declared responsibility for
the attack in a statement carried by AFP.
Martyr Karam
Mohamed Abul-Einein, 18, from the Jebalia refugee camp, carried out the
operation, the statement said.
"This attack
comes in retaliation for the Israeli massacre of our people in
Rafah," the Qassam Brigades said, vowing to carry on with martyr
operations as the sole means to counter continued Israeli state
terrorism.
The Israeli
occupation army killed eight Palestinians, including two children,
Thursday, October 17, when Israeli tanks blasted two houses in the
southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah with shells and heavy machinegun fire.
The murdered children were a
four-year-old girl and a 12-year-old child, AFP reported.
Among the dead were also two
young men and two elderly women, and a dozen Palestinians were listed as
seriously hurt.
The Israeli tanks fired three
shells at the houses and blasted them with heavy machinegun fire, said
Palestinian medical and security officials.
Last week, at
least six people, most of them children, were killed in Rafah by Israeli
forces during incursions into the Palestinian self-rule town on the
Israel-controlled border with Egypt.
Meanwhile, the European Union on
Friday called for restraint in the Middle East, a day after Israeli
tanks killed eight Palestinians in the southern Gaza strip in response
to a rocket attack.
"The resort to violence and
the excessive use of military counter measures against it must be
stopped by both sides" said a statement issued by the Danish E.U.
presidency.
"The presidency strongly
deplores the incident" the statement said, adding that
"irrespective of the circumstances, the lives of civilians, be it
children or adults, must be protected and spared."
The statement comes as
Palestinian planning and international cooperation minister Nabil Shaath
visits Copenhagen for talks with the Danish E.U. presidency due to focus
on continued violence in the region.
"Attempts are currently
being made by the parties and by the international community to break
the circle of violence and restart the political process" the
statement asserted.
"Irresponsible actions on
the ground should not be allowed to prevent or delay the process."
