GAZA CITY, 16 January 2008 — The son of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar was among 18 Palestinians massacred yesterday during an Israeli incursion into the Al-Zaiton neighborhood of Gaza.
Witnesses and medical sources said that 45 others were also wounded due to the indiscriminate artillery shelling. They added that 12 of the injured were in critical condition and that the death toll might increase.
Hamas and witnesses said that Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers, backed by helicopters and drones, came into Al-Zaiton neighborhood after Palestinian resistance fighters discovered an Israeli undercover unit had infiltrated the area and then came under Hamas gunfire. In response, Israeli artillery and warplanes moved in and shelled the area.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said that eight of its members had been killed during the Israeli offensive. They added that Hussam, 24, son of Mahmoud Zahar, had been killed in an air strike during the incursion. Medical sources said that three other civilians, including an elderly man, were also killed.
Mahmud Zahar is one of Hamas’ founders and served as Palestinian foreign minister from 2006 to 2007. In September 2003, another of Zahar’s sons, Khaled, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that completely destroyed Zahar’s house in Gaza City.
Deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said: “Israeli assassinations of Palestinian people will not frighten the leadership and will not affect its determination. The crimes of the occupation will remain the curse of the occupation.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas branded the Gaza operation a massacre, and said it flew in the face of peace efforts.
“What happened today is a massacre, a slaughter of the Palestinian people,” Abbas told reporters. “These massacres cannot bring peace.”
Hamas announced three days of mourning and called a general strike today. Several thousand people called for vengeance as they attended the funerals of those killed.
The Israeli Army confirmed the operation, saying troops fired at gunmen who approached the border fence. After an exchange of fire, aircraft also fired at the militants, the military said.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev confirmed the shelling and said the operation was launched because of rocket attacks on Israel. “This is the result, unfortunately, of the ongoing attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip,” he said.
On Monday, top negotiators began talks on the thorniest issues at the heart of the conflict — borders, settlements, Jerusalem and refugees. The negotiations came after the visit to the region by US President George W. Bush — whose administration has turned its focus on trying to solve the conflict during his last year in office. The American president has predicted that a peace treaty would be signed by January 2009.
But underlining the divide between the two sides, construction of 60 new housing units has begun in a settlement in annexed East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to make the capital of their promised state. It was the latest settlement expansion in East Jerusalem — despite Palestinian demands that such activity be halted — since the peace talks were revived.
