Jan 9, 2009


PNN - The United Nations said Friday that the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip reached 799 after the bodies of 50 children were found buried under the rubble.

Witnesses report that during last weekend the Israeli military bombed a house in Gaza where soldiers had rounded up 110 Palestinians, killing 30 people. At least 50 bodies were found, along with children, under the rubble.

Witnesses in Gaza and Israeli military sources said today that Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and projectile launches from the armed Palestinian resistance continued early Friday despite the UN Security Council finally passing a resolution calling for an immediate halt. The Israeli Cabinet is meeting to decide whether to abide the resolution or to move on to "Phase Three" of the operation against the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian spokesperson said the resolution "fell short of the aspirations of the Palestinian people."

Palestinian medical sources announced earlier the death of photographer, Ehab Wahidi, working for Palestine TV. His mother and wife were also killed when Israeli forces targeted their apartment in Tal Al Hawa, southwest of Gaza City on Thursday evening. Several other people were injured.

Palestinian medical sources also announced the death of a 36 year old and his one and a half year old son from Israeli artillery shelling on their house in eastern Gaza City’s Al Shajaiyeh neighborhood. The sources confirmed that the man’s daughter Yasim was seriously injured. She is in intensive care in Al Shifa Hospital. His second son, Abdul Rahim, was slightly injured and now must deal with the death of his father, whose body was in two parts, and baby brother, along with the loss of his home.

Dr. Muawiya Hassanenin, Director of Ambulance and Emergency in the Ministry of Health said that more than 50 bodies were found under the rubble during a few hours of calm that allowed medical crews and rescue teams to search for the injured and dead.

The International Committee of the Red Cross again reported that the Israeli army is routinely preventing relief teams from reaching wounded Palestinians, including children, who have been trapped for a period of five days.

Israeli aircraft, warships and tanks are all involved in bombarding dozens of houses in the Strip, in addition to resuming the attacks on Beit Lahia in the north on Friday afternoon.

Medical sources also noted that it was two women who were killed yesterday when Israeli tanks shelled a group of them who were fleeing their homes in Al Qarrara Village, just north of Khan Younis.