Additional
reporting by IOL Palestine Correspondent
OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, September 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Ignoring
increasing world condemnation against its policy of assassinations,
Israeli helicopters fired missiles at the home of a Hamas activist in
central Gaza late Sunday, September 7, wounding 10 civilians as another
Palestinian resistance activist was shot dead by Israeli troops early
Monday, September 8.
The
Israeli troops shot the Palestinian near the main Erez crossing from the
Gaza Strip into Israel, according to an Israeli military spokesman.
The
man had been wearing an Israeli army uniform and was aiming in the
direction of soldiers, added the spokesman, without giving details,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Palestinian
security sources said the man was a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah
movement.
Failed
Assassination Attempt
Late
Sunday, at least 10 Palestinians, including three children, were injured
when two Israeli helicopters fired missiles at the home of a known
member of the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam, witnesses and
medical sources told AFP.
Abdul
Salem Abu Musa, who survived the missile attack, lived in the house near
a refugee camp in the Khan Yunis area, witnesses said.
"There
are 10 injured. There is big damage to the house and other houses,"
one witness told AFP.
Israeli
military sources said that the target of the attack was a Hamas weapons
store.
Witnesses
said that patients in a nearby hospital chanted anti-Israeli slogans
after the attack, calling on Ezzedine Al-Qassam to avenge the attack.
Despite
condemnation from the international community and even repeated mild
rebukes from Washington, Israel's close ally and staunch supporter, the
Israeli military has carried out a string of assassination attacks
against Hamas members and leaders, military and political alike, in
recent days.
Hamas
spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin was slightly injured in a failed
attempt on his life in Gaza City Saturday.
Non-Stop
Resistance
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|
Assassination
attempts often claim the life Palestinian bystanders
|
Speaking
to IslamOnline.net on Monday, the latest Israeli target, Abu Musa
insisted attempts on his life will not deter "us from carrying out
our legal right to resist the Zionist enemy that occupies our land,
destroys our houses and kills our people before the whole world on daily
basis for over half a century".
"We
will continue our struggle until we achieve victory or die martyrs. We
will make the Zionists pay for their crimes no matter what."
Abu
Musa who looked calm and in a good health - for someone who almost
miraculously survived a very close call on his life hours ago - works
for a Palestinian security branch.
Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel "Sharon commits a big mistake if he - and his
cabinet - believes (that) destroying our homes and targeting our leaders
may stop our struggle," Abu Musa added.
Attacks
Continue
In
retaliation, Palestinian activists fired six mortar rounds at a Jewish
settlement in the southern Gaza Strip Monday morning, without causing
injuries, said an Israeli military spokesman.
In
the West Bank, the Israeli army destroyed the house of an Islamic Jihad
member, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources.
Mursi
Fahaneh had recruited four bombers, the Israelis claimed.
"The
demolition of houses sends a message to terrorists and their accomplices
that anyone implicated in terrorism will pay the price," a military
spokesman said in a statement.
The
army has demolished more than 200 houses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
since August 2002 of Palestinians who were allegedly implicated in
anti-Israeli attacks.
Amnesty
Slams Israeli Policy
In a separately-related development, a report by Amnesty International
said Monday that restrictions imposed by Israel in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip have had a disastrous impact on the lives of Palestinians and
crippled their economy.
"Unemployment
and poverty has spiraled, malnutrition has emerged, anemia and other
health problems have increased and education has been negatively
affected," the report by the London-based rights group said.
Sweeping
and indiscriminate restrictions on Palestinians and their goods violated
their right to freedom of movement and the right to work, it added.
"Some
60 percent of Palestinians now live below the poverty line of two U.S.
dollars per day and most are forced to depend on aid," it said.
