Palestinian resistance fighters escape Israeli air strike

Thursday May 31, 2007 12:21 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian sources reported that a group of Palestinian resistance fighters escaped a deadly Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza strip on Thursday.

Medical sources reported that two men were only slightly injured in the attack. Al Nasser Salah Al Deen brigades, the armed wing of the popular resistance committees in Gaza, stated that one of their groups had been targeted. The brigades added that the fighters were trying to fire home made shells at Israeli targets when they were attacked by an Israeli war plane.

Israeli army sources confirmed the attack but said that they were only targeting some shells that were ready to be fired. No people were believed to be in the area. Early on Thursday morning a Palestinian home-made shell landed in open space in the Negev without causing any damage or injuries.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas called for a ceasefire under which Palestinian resistance groups would halt the shelling of Israeli towns near the Gaza strip and the Israeli military would stop its operations. The Israelis refused the offer and stepped up their attacks. Palestinian resistance groups said they will stop firing their home-made shells when Israeli troops stop attacking Palestinians in the Gaza strip and the West Bank

In the past two weeks Israeli air strikes and ground offensives in the Gaza strip have left 52 Palestinians dead, among them eight children, and as many as 200 wounded. At the same time, two Israelis have been killed and no more than eight injured by the home-made Palestinian shells.

The Israeli army has also continued to attack cities and towns in the West Bank, assassinating local resistance men and abducting more than 42 Palestinian law makers. The latest attack occurred when the Israeli army planted a bomb in the car of a local leader in Nablus city, late Wednesday evening. The leader escaped but two were killed and many more civilians were injured when the car exploded in the city center.

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