GAZA CITY, 8 October 2004 — Israeli forces killed two children and a fighter yesterday as the United Nations delivered aid to Palestinian families trapped in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian doctors identified the two slain children as Saliman Abu Ful and Raed Abu Zeid, both 14, and said their bodies had been ripped apart by what appeared to be a tank shell.
The Israeli Army insisted that the two targeted in the Jabaliya camp had been “preparing to fire an improvised rocket”. “The pair were hit by a missile fired by a helicopter gunship,” a spokesperson said.
But witnesses at the scene said the teenagers had been rummaging through the ruins of a local youth club destroyed by armored bulldozers two days earlier. They said they were hit by a tank shell.
“I got scared and moved back, but Raed and Saliman stood there, carrying pipes and the tank fired two shells. The second one tore their bodies to bits,” said Karam Abu Naji, also 14.
A 17-year-old Palestinian girl, Samah Udeh, was also seriously wounded in Jabaliya when Israeli tanks at the entrance of the camp opened fire, according to Palestinian hospital sources and witnesses.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced a successful delivery of aid to half of the 600 families, approximately 3,300 people, trapped in the Jabaliya camp.
They have been unable to leave their homes since Sept. 28, when Israel launched its “Days of Penitence” operation in northern Gaza in a bid to stop Palestinian rocket attacks on the Jewish state.
“Most have exhausted their food supplies and many have seen their water and electricity connections to their homes cut by bulldozing operations,” UNRWA said in a statement.
The agency also trucked in 8,000 liters of drinking water, in a delivery which it said was facilitated by a “practical dialogue” with the Israeli Army.
In a separate incident, a Palestinian gunman was killed by Israeli troops in the southern Gaza Strip, according to an Israeli military source.
“Two armed men were apparently trying to infiltrate Israel. One of them was hit and killed by our forces. The other escaped” the source said.
Former Palestinian Security Minister Mohammed Dahlan warned Israel to expect Palestinian “revenge” attacks in the wake of the Jabaliya offensive. “I don’t think Israel will achieve anything with this operation,” Dahlan said.
“Israel has killed 93 people and destroyed hundreds of houses. That will not bring security but a violent retaliation and revenge operations,” he said. “Every Palestinian who has lost a son, a brother or a house thinks only of revenge.”
Dahlan also questioned the usefulness of firing home-made rockets at Israel, generally by member of Hamas. “To reduce the Palestinian cause to mortars and rockets represents a reverse for Palestinian political action and for the intifada,” he said.
— Additional input from agencies
