Gaza, 03-01-08: An Israeli military attack on the village of Qarara in the Gaza Strip today has killed nine Palestinians, five of whom were members of the same family, including two women. Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, Secretary General of the PNI expressed his disgust at the killings and said that Israel had exceeded all limits in its violations of human rights and its attacks on civilians.
The attack began at 9:30 this morning when Israeli tanks backed by helicopters invaded the district of Khan Younis and began firing tank shells at residents’ homes. One of these shells hit the house of the Fayyad family, destroying half of the building.
Family members who escaped from the building and who ran outside were murdered one by one in a hail of Israeli bullets. 26-year-old Sami Fayyad was the first to be shot and killed, followed by his brother Ahmad, 28, then by their mother Karimeh, and finally, by their 25-year-old sister Asma’. Their cousin Mohammad was also shot in the liver and later died.
A further four people were killed and more than forty wounded in the attack.
The Israeli military ended its killing spree at 1:30 in the afternoon. Pictures of the aftermath show grief-stricken Gazans transferring the bodies of the dead and injured to a hospital in Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, more than 70 Israeli military vehicles invaded Nablus from all directions on Thursday morning, storming the Rafidiya Hospital and besieging other hospitals in Nablus. The Old City was also declared a closed military zone and citizens and medical staff were prevented from entering the area.
At least 24 Palestinians were wounded in the attack.
Described as an ‘arrest operation’, the attack comes in a context whereby Palestinian security forces have been working to enforce law and order in the besieged city since November.
Dr. Barghouthi underlined that Israel’s active efforts to undermine the very internal security it demands from the Palestinians before taking any steps towards peace, is clear proof of Israel’s fundamental unwillingness to achieve peace.