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Wednesday, 15 September 2010

Escalation in Gaza: Israel Kills 2 Palestinians, Injures 6 Others in 24 Hrs.

15/09/2010 At least two Palestinians were killed and six others were injured within 24 hours in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, one Palestinian was killed and two others were injured in Israeli air strikes on smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border, Palestinian medics and security officials said.

Israeli police also confirmed that a rocket had landed near Ashkelon. "It exploded in a field without causing any injuries or damage," police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told AFP.

The raids followed a morning of Palestinian rocket and mortar fire into the occupied territories and came as Israeli and Palestinian leaders were to meet in occupied Jerusalem for peace talks opposed by Palestinian resistance leaders.

Tuesday afternoon, sources in Gaza said a Palestinian resistance fighter was killed and four others were injured from Israeli occupation artillery fire near the security fence, east of the Zeitoun neighborhood in north Gaza City.

Israeli military said a group of fighters fired an anti-tank missile at occupation soldiers operating near the border fence in northern Gaza. "No injuries were caused," the army said in a statement.

"The force retaliated by firing tank shells and light fire at the suspects and identified hitting one of the militants, who was apparently killed," the statement said.

The statement quoted Israeli Brig.-Gen. Eyal Eisenberg, who said, "The Gaza Strip is controlled by the Hamas terrorist organization. We hold it accountable for anything that takes place in the strip."

On Sunday three Palestinians were killed when Israeli occupation soldiers clashed with fighters in north Gaza. Among the casualties were an elderly shepherd Ibrahim Abu Said, 91, and his grandson Ismail Abu Odeh, 21. According to the Palestinians, the Israelis fired artillery at gunmen approaching the security fence, but one shell hit a Palestinian home.

Israeli forces also opened fire at a march held to protest the army's imposed no-go zone along the border near the Erez crossing in the north, peace activists said.

An Israeli military investigation determined that they were not all "terrorists," as was initially claimed.

The Israeli army says investigations into the incidents reveal that two of the three were "not involved in an act of terror," the commander of the Gaza Regional Division said in response to a Maan inquiry.

Israeli Brig. Gen. Eisenberg said that while the investigations into the incident have not yet concluded, "we understand from a re-creation that we undertook that the three casualties were not involved in act of terror."

Earlier this week, Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin warned that Palestinians resistance groups may step up their activity against Israel as long as the peace talks progress.

HAMAS VOWS TO CONTINUE RESISTANCE

Also Tuesday, a senior commander of Hamas' armed wing the Al-Qassam Brigades vowed to "continue the path of resistance against the occupation until victory."

"With the power of faith, weapons and missiles, tunnels and commandos we will achieve victory for Palestine and we’ll end the occupation in Gaza too," Ahmed Al-Jabari said.

Denouncing the latest round of direct negotiations hosted by Egypt, Al-Jabari said in a statement published on the Al-Qassam website that Israel should "only be treated with weapons and battle."

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