Israeli Offensive in Gaza; Over 270 Palestinians Killed, At Least 900 Wounded

Sunday December 28, 2008 13:01 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC Agencies

Dr. Moawiya Hasanen, head of the Emergency Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, reported on Sunday at dawn that the number of casualties who were killed in the ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza reached 271, and that 900 residents are wounded, 120 seriously; most of the casualties are women and children, the Maan News Agency reported.

Imade by AlJazeera.net

The agency added that the latest offensive was carried out on Saturday night after midnight when the Israeli army shelled a medical storage facility, and a Fuel Station in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Several surrounding homes caught fire and were burnt to the ground.

Dozens of residents were wounded when the army shelled a police station in the al-Shujaeyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.

The Israeli Air Force shelled a security post in front of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and also shelled a Hospital’s mosque, killing two residents and wounding at least seven. The shelling also shattered the windows of the Urgent Care Unit at the hospital.

Dr. Hasanen also said that three Palestinian were killed and four others were wounded in two strikes that targeted neighborhoods in Gaza City and Jabalia.  

Furthermore, Dr. Hasanen added that 15 of the slain residents have not been identified yet and that 80 severely mutilated bodies were transferred to different hospitals while dozens of casualties are still buried under the rubble of several shelled constructions.

He stated that Gaza Hospitals are facing sharp shortages in medical supplies, equipment needed for surgeries and medications. Dr. Hassanen voiced an appeal to the Arab countries to immediately send desperately needed medical supplies to Gaza.

Dozens of bodies are now lying in the hallways of Gaza hospitals as there isn’t enough room in the morgues. The hospitals also had to early discharge dozens of wounded residents who suffered wounds that were described as less serious than other cases, in order to make space for more serious injuries.

Despite Israeli claims of targeting Hamas fighters and security posts, the army shelled mosques, blacksmith workshops, local media agencies, charitable societies, police stations, detainees’ affairs societies and also shelled the Islamic University in Gaza.

Ongoing Israeli Offensive in Gaza; 225 Killed Over 700 Wounded, Israel Prepares for Further Attacks

Saed Bannoura, IMEMC & Agencies Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:55:52

As instructed by its political leadership, the Israeli army continued its military offensive against the Gaza Strip and shelled further targets, raising the number of deaths among the residents to 225, and at least 700 residents were wounded, many are in critical condition.

The Qatar-based Al Jazeera Satellite news Agency said that the simultaneous and ongoing Israeli strikes also targeted a mosque, the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, and dozens of civilian homes and facilities.

At least 40 security centers were simultaneously hit; some centers were repeatedly hit which increased the number of casualties, as the residents and medics rushed to evacuate the wounded before the Israeli Army struck the same targets again

al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, the main hospital in central Gaza, is overloaded with dead and wounded Palestinians.

Dr. Hasan Khalaf, head of the hospital administration, said that the hospital had to use some ordinary rooms as primitive intensive care units due to the large number of injuries.

Dr. Khalaf added that dozens of families homes' were hit, with many members of the same family killed and wounded after the army shelled their homes.

Dozens of children were also wounded as the shelling was carried out as school children were heading back home from school.

In the West Bank, thousands of residents marched in the streets calling for unity and demanding Arab countries to interfere and calling for ending talks with Israel.

President Mahmoud Abbas contacted several Arab leaders asking them to intervene immediately and stop the Israeli assaults.

Also in the West Bank, the army violently attacked hundreds of protesters in villages and towns in East Jerusalem, Ramallah, Hebron and several other Palestinian areas.

Arab leaders and residents of Israel also took to the streets, protesting against the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Arab member of Knesset, Jamal Zahalka, participated in a protest in Nazareth and called for indicting the Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, for war crimes against the Palestinian people.

Mohammad Nazzal, one of Hamas' political leaders in Damascus, said that Hamas and all resistance factions are ready to defend the residents of the Gaza Strip, and added that the Israeli crimes in Gaza require a massive response from the resistance in retaliation to the “massacres in Gaza”.

Nazzal demanded that Arab countries not only crititisize Israel's war crimes to the international community, but to act on the ground by cutting all ties and relations with Israel.  Egypt has ben requested to open the Raffah border crossing in order to break this ihumane siege on Gaza.

Nazzal also demanded Arab countries and leaders to put a lot of pressure on the international community to stop the Israeli offensive.

In Ramallah, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Dr, Hanan Ashrawi, said that Europe and the United States are supporting Israel, as just three weeks ago, Europe upgraded relations with Israel, encouraging further attacks against Palestinians while the US continues to send heaps of financial and military support to Israel.

Ashrawi added that Arab leaders must be decisive in their response to the Israeli offensive and must act to stop the brutal attacks. In Bethlehem, Dr. Victor Batarsa, mayor of the city, said that the municipality decided to cancel all Christmas celebrations and to remove Christmas tree from the manger square in addition to removing Christmas lights and decorations.

Thousands of Palestinian refugees in Jordan along with Jordanian nationals took to the streets, protesting against the Israeli attacks in Gaza and calling on Jordan to cut its diplomatic ties with Israel.

Massive protests were also reported in Egypt as the protesters called for a response to the Israeli offensive and crimes against the Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Protests were also reported in refugee camps in Lebanon calling for unity among the Palestinian factions and demanding Arab unity in order to counter the Israeli war crimes.

They also called on all resistance factions to step-up their retaliation against the Israeli offensive and to strike back in the occupied territories and in Israel.

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