15 residents were killed Wednesday and 62 others were wounded, including 8 in critical
condition during a wide-scale Israeli invasion of al-Shaja’iya residential quarter in Gaza
City and al-Sha’outh refugee camp and Zu’rub residential quarter in Rafah.
In al-
Shaja’iya, the massacre was committed by a group of Israeli snipers from what is referred
to as ‘Musta’ribin’ (disguised in civilian clothes) who occupied the roofs of tall
buildings supported by military reinforcements that included a large number of tanks,
bulldozers and armored vehicles.
The invasion began at 4:00 am. The Israeli army
withdrew at 1:00 pm.
Those killed in al-Shaja’iya:
- Ahmad Abu Armana
(22 years old)
- Haitham Abed (28 years old)
- Isma’il Abu al-Ata (25
years old)
- Mohammad al-Ijla (34 years old)
- Mohammad Hillis (17 years old)
-
Mahdi Zaidiya (23 years old)
- Akram Uqeilan (25 years old)
- Ayman
Khalil (25 years old)
- Amer al-Ghimari (24 years old)
- Ashraf
Hassanein
- Hani Abu Sakhila (25 years old) from Jabalya refugee camp
-
Mohammad al-Hayik from al-Tuffah residential quarter.
Sources in al-Shifa hospital
reported that 4 of the wounded are in extremely critical condition and 10 others in
critical condition. The sources also revealed that among the wounded, 20 are under the age
of 18.
The massacre began when an Israeli Special Force invaded al-Shaja’iya area
from the eastern entrance in a civilian car. When Palestinian security officers suspected
the car and attempted to stop it, the soldiers opened fire towards the Palestinian security
forces, killing Ahmad Armana, border security officer.
Soldiers inside the car
continued to open fire randomly until they reached and occupied the roof of a tall building
on Baghdad road. At around 5:00 am Israeli tanks and armored vehicles arrived at the
location to offer protection to the ‘Special Force’ and opened fire randomly and
intensively towards homes and the residents. 4 residents were killed straight away and 10
others were wounded.
Israeli military forces shelled and attacked with machine gun
fire a residential building that belongs to Farouq Hasanein killing Ashraf Hasanein, Ayman
Khalil and Mohammad al-Hayik.
The Israeli army then blew up the building, which was
inhabited by 17 people before withdrawing from the area by half an hour leaving behind 12
killed ands 44 wounded.
Witness Reports
The resident Mohammad Amara who works
as a security guard in one of the buildings in al-Shaja’iya said that he saw a car drive
past at high speed while opening fire in all directions. Amara was hit with a bullet in the
shoulder and was thrown to the ground. No one could reach him before half an hour, during
which time he hid in one of the alleyways as he watched several Israeli tanks invade the
area.
He said he then tried to reach a side road where a mini bus that belongs to
one of the residents picked him up and took him to hospital. Israeli soldiers in the
meantime opened fire at the mini bus.
The child Ahmad al-Batrikhi (12 years old) was
hit with a bullet in his left leg and was carried in a private car to hospital with one of
the resistance fighters who were wounded.
A number of the wounded confirmed that the
occupation army faced a strong popular resistance. Exchange of fire reportedly took place
between the invading Israeli soldiers and Palestinian resistance fighters who managed to
make one of the Israeli tanks in-operational and wound a number of Israeli
soldiers.
The Rafah Invasion
In Rafah, the residents Ibrahim Zu’rub (25 years
old), Mohammad Tantawi (19 years old) and Mohammad al-Hamayda (18 years old) were killed
and 18 others were wounded in a new Israeli invasion that targeted al-Sha’outh refugee camp
and Zu’rub residential quarter located west of Rafah.
Four of the wounded are in
extremely critical condition according to sources in Abu Youssif al-Najar hospital.
