GAZA, 9 July 2004 — Members of an Israeli undercover unit broke into several houses in Beit Hanun yesterday and killed seven Palestinians. The commandos were supported by snipers, who occupied the roofs of nearby houses, and two Apache helicopters.
Of the seven dead, six belonged to the resistance while the seventh was a woman on-looker. The dead were identified as Jamila Hamad, Hamed Abu Oda, Ahmed Zanin, Naim Al-Kafarna, Naser Abu Harbid, Zuhir Abu Harbid and Nahed Abu Oda. Four belonged to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, while two were senior fighters in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.
As news of the Israeli raid spread, fighters exchanged heavy gunfire with the Israelis. At least 20 Palestinians were wounded, two of them seriously, Palestinian medics said.
An Israeli Army spokesman said a soldier was critically wounded in the fighting.
Palestinian medics complained Israeli soldiers prevented them from evacuating the wounded. The troops held back three ambulances carrying the wounded for half an hour. Abu Oda bled to death, they said.
Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat denounced the raid, saying: “We firmly condemn Israel’s crimes today in Beit Hanun and hold Israel responsible for their consequences.”
The latest violence brought the overall toll since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, to 3,173 Palestinians killed.
Later yesterday, another five Israeli soldiers were wounded when an army jeep hit a roadside bomb near the Jewish settlement of Morag in the southern Gaza Strip. The military said two colonels were among the casualties. Islamic Jihad said it carried out the roadside bombing in retaliation for the killing of Abu Oda.
The jeep blast was followed by bursts of Israeli gunfire to the east of Morag, in the town of Rafah. Medics said six Palestinians were wounded, including a four-year-old girl who was in a critical condition. Also in the southern Gaza Strip, four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were wounded during an army raid into the town of Khan Yunis, in which troops destroyed 25 houses.
