Israel Kills 23 Palestinians, Including Children

Nine people, including seven children, were killed in the Israeli strike against the house. (Reuters)

"An Israeli F16 dropped a two-ton bomb at the house of Nabil Abu Salmeeyah, who teaches at the Islamic University," Palestinian sources told IslamOnline.net.

The pre-dawn air strike claimed the lives of Salmeeyah, his wife Salwa and seven children, aging between four and sixteen.

"Who will be the next to die?" cried neighbors as they checked the pile of concrete rubble.

"He was only a teacher. I don't know if he was a member of Hamas, but his daughters and his wife certainly were not. Did they deserve to die like this?" asked Abu Salmeeyah's brother Yussef.

Another 37 people were wounded, three of them critically, in the attack, according to medical sources.

The strike also severely damaged neighboring homes in the densely populated Sheikh Redwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City.

The attack was preceded by a large-scale incursion into the central Gaza Strip, east of Deir al-Balah refugee camp, penetrating up to one kilometer inside the territory.

Last month, Israeli gunboats shelled a beach in Al-Sudania area in northern Gaza, killing a seven-member Palestinian family and injuring up to 35 others.

Denial

Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, refuted Israeli claims its top commander Mohammed Deif was wounded in the attack.

Abu Obeida, the group's spokesman, slammed the "deceitful information intended to cover up Zionist crimes."

Israeli army radio claimed that Deif, considered one of Israel's top enemies and wanted for years, had been wounded while in a meeting with at least three other senior Hamas military commanders.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the strike was carried out following information received by the domestic intelligence service Shin Beth and after Defense Minister Amir Peretz personally gave the go-ahead.

Qassam Brigades vowed to retaliate to the new Israeli aggression.

"Our reaction to this massacre will be painful and strong for the Zionists and we will make the enemy leadership sorry for their crime."

More Killing

At least 75 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its Gaza Strip offensive on June 28. (Reuters)

Five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike in the central Gaza Strip where the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom used to be, medics said.

In the central Gaza Strip, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian policeman when they opened fire near Abu el Ajin village, east of the Deir al-Balah refugee camp.

A member of the Popular Resistance Committees, one of three groups holding the Israeli soldier, died in clashes in the same area.

An Israeli raid against a police station in the village of Qarara, east of Khan Yunis, left a Palestinian policeman killed and two others wounded.

Two Palestinians were also killed by Israeli shelling east of Deir al-Balah.

An air strike against a vehicle north of the central town of Khan Yunis claimed the lives of two other Palestinians.

The bodies of two resistance activists killed in the same raid were later discovered near the vehicle.

At least 75 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have now been killed since Israel launched its Gaza Strip offensive on Wednesday, June 28, after an Israeli soldier was taken prisoner by Palestinian resistance groups.

Israel claims the onslaught, which has seen large parts of the coastal strip reoccupied and thousands of troops and military gear deployed, only aims at freeing the soldier.

The Palestinians, however, see the offensive as a bid to topple the Hamas-led government and inflict long-term havoc on Gaza's infrastructure.

The new fatalities bring to 5,211 the number of people killed since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, the vast majority of them Palestinians.