http://www.imemc.org/content/view/22515/1/
Casualties of the Beit Hanoun Israeli shelling are civilians including eight children
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC - Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 13:49

Twenty Palestinians were killed and at least forty were injured after the Israeli army shelled a civilian area in Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Eight of the killed are children, all of the casualties are family members and relatives.

All of the killed residents are civilians, they were sleeping in their homes when the Israeli army shelled the civilian area.

The bodies of the casualties were severely mutilated as a result of the shelling, while the injured residents were sent to four hospitals across the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Israel claimed that the shelling was not intended to hit the civilian houses, although initial sources claimed that the target was an areas where Qassam homemade shells are fired into Israeli areas.

Israel's Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni , “expressed regret for the deaths”.

A senior Israeli military source confirmed that the army fired twelve shells and that the artillery fire was intended to hit an area half a kilometer from the houses of Beit Hanoun.

The source stated that “so far it is unclear whether this is a human error or a technical error”, and added that the main assumption now is that the artillery unit was given wrong coordinates.

Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that the Israel Army Forces Chief of Staff, Dan Halutz, appointed Major General Meir Kalifi to head an investigation into the shelling.

The shelling to the civilian area continued for 15 minutes.

The IMEMC received the following list from the Palestinian News Agency, WAFA;

All of them are civilians, including children and infants

1. Malak Samir Al Athamna, 1 year-old.
2. Maisa' Ramzi Al Thamna, 3 year-old.
3. Fatima Al Athamna, 5 year-old.
4. Sa'ady Majdi Abu Amsha, 8 year-old.
5. Mahmoud Amjad Al Athamna, 12 year-old.
6. Mahdi Sa'ad Al Athamna, 13 year-old.
7. Mohammad Sa'ad Al Athamna, 14 year-old.
8. Arafat Sa'ad Al Athamna, 17 year-old.
9. Nihad Al Athamna, 23.
10. Samir Mahmoud Al Athamna, 23.
11. Mohammad Ramadan Al Athamna, 24.
12. Sana' Ahmad Al Athamna, 30.
13. Manal Ahmad Al Athamna, 33.
14. Deema Majdi Al Athamna.
15. Ala' Al Athamna.
16. Saqer Mohammad Adwan, 45.
17. Sabah Al Athamna, 45.
18. Masoud Abdullah Al Athamna, 55.
19. Ni'ma Ahmad Al Athamna, 57.
20. Fatima Ahmad Al Athamna, 70.

At least fourty residents were injured, some seriously as a result of the Israeli shelling to the civilian area.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/22516/1/
P.A Government: “Beit Hanoun attack disgraced the international community”
Palestine News Network - Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 13:55

Palestinian government spokesperson, Ghazi Hamad, said Wednesday that Israel is not a state, but rather a gang of criminals. The international community that Hamad says Israel disgraced in this morning's killings is being called upon. Prime Minister Ismail Haniya is calling for the international community in general, and the United Nations Security Council in particular, to intervene.

Israeli forces killed at least 20 Palestinians in an unexpected attack on a family home in Beit Hanoun after a week of attacks on the northern Gaza Strip.

The Israelis have killed at least 80 Palestinians in seven days, most of them in the town of Beit Hanoun.

Prime Minister Haniya called for an international committee to investigate the “war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people.” He stressed internal unity and cohesion to face increasing Israeli aggression. In a statement given to reporters outside his Gaza City home after this morning's killings in Beit Hanoun, the Prime Minister said that dialogue to form a national unity government is temporarily on hold. He also called for a three-day period of national mourning.

Government Spokesperson Hamad said that the international community and the United Nations must stand firm. Hamad reiterated that Israel does not traditionally honor international law or the numerous UN resolutions drafted against them. Hamad said, “The American Administration granted the green light to the occupation government to commit murder and massacres.”

The Government Spokesperson concluded, “We in the government emphasize the need to impose international sanctions on Israel and for the Arab League to protect the Palestinian people and provide urgent relief.”

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/22512/1/
Five Palestinians killed in Al Yamoun, near Jenin
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC - Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 12:03

Wednesday at dawn, under-cover forces of the Israeli army shot and killed five Palestinians in Al Yamoun town, west of Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank. At least sixteen residents were taken prisoner in the village and several surrounding areas.

An Israeli military source said that elite units operating in the village, spotted a group of gunmen and opened fire at them.

Meanwhile, local sources reported that three of the five Palestinians killed on Wednesday were in fact executed after the under-cover forces shot and injured them before they took them to a nearby house and executed them.

Dr. Eyad Samara from Al Yamoun told the IMEMC that the under-cover forces invaded the town at 2:30 at dawn, surrounded a house, where the fighters were hiding, and fired Energa bombs that cause massive fire.

The under-cover forces occupied some houses and order the residents to remain silent or be killed; the houses are overlooking at a house where the fighters usually gather, Dr. Samara stated.

“Three of them were injured in their feet, and were taken by the army to a nearby house”, Dr. Samara added, “They were executed in cold blood at that house”.

Dr. Samara added that the soldiers barred the medics and himself from reaching the injured residents, “before the casualties were taken to a nearby house and were executed before the army evacuated from the town”.

“It was impossible for us to reach them, three of them were injured in their legs, the neighbors managed to talk to them, we could have saved their lives because their suffered mild injuries”, Dr. Samara added, “We could have gave them first aid before taking them to a hospital, but the army took them to a nearby house and killed them”.

Two residents were killed in the attack, one of them was standing on his balcony; both were shot in the head.

Palestinian medical sources in the Jenin Governmental Hospital identified the five as Taher Abahra, 29, Salim Abu Al Haija, 26, Ala' Khamaisa, 25, Mahmoud Rajeh Abu Al Hasan, 29, and Ayman Abu Suleiman, 32, all from Al Yamoun.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops broke into dozens of homes, searched them and took at three residents prisoner, soldiers claimed uncovering two automatic rifles, a gun and weapons in the houses of the three residents.

Last week, resident Ahmad Abu Hasan was hot and killed by the Israeli army in Al Yamoun during a similar invasion.

Eleven residents, including five brothers, were also taken prisoner in the village and the nearby Qabatia town and the village of Al Zababda and took several residents prisoner.

According to local sources, the following residents were taken prisoner in Al Yamoun; Ibrahim Mahmoud Nawahda, Mohammad Yousef Abu Al Haija, both members of the Al Aqsa brigades and were taken prisoner after they were shot and injured, Salim Awwad Abu Al Haija, 21, Farah Khamaisa, Ahmad Lutfi Labdi, Yasser Arafat Shahin, Mohammad Salim Tahwoosh, and addition to five brothers identified as Salah, Bashar, Mohannad, Shadi and Mojahid Abu Suleiman.

In Qabatia town, troops took prisoner three residents, including two brothers; there were identified as Bilal and Ahmad Mustafa Al Zay, and Idrees Kamil Kameel.

Also, troops abducted the Imam of Al Zababda mosque, Sheikh Taha Najih Sharqawi, after stopping him at a temporary checkpoint, and took him to an unknown destination.

- Dr. Eyad Smara was interviewed by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/22509/1/
20 civilians killed in Beit Hannoun, Palestinians call Security Council to meet
Ghassan Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies - Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 09:27

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, head of the Hamas-led cabinet, Wednesday demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after 20 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in Beit Hhanoun in the Gaza Strip.

"I call on the Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to stop these massacres against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank," the prime minister told reporters shortly before an urgent meeting of his cabinet.

At least 20 Palestinian civilians, including seven children were killed and scores injured on Wednesday morning due to Israeli army shelling residents' houses in the Town of Beit Hannoun, north of the Gaza strip.

Palestinian sources reported that army tanks stationed at the borders betwen Israel and Gaza shelled residents' houses. Al Othmani family house that consists of four apartments, was leveled to the ground and the number of houses sustained heavy damage, causing a high number of deaths and injuries.

According to medical sources, 5 of the 20 killed were moved to Kamal Adawan hospital and the other 13 were moved to Beit Hannoun Hospital. Doctors said that they were unable to identify most of the killed civilians because the bodes arrived severely mutilated. Doctors added that there are the critical among the wounded, which led the doctors to say the number of the killed may increase.

Earlier at around 1:00 am on Wednesday, several tanks and army bulldozers invaded the town of Beit Hannoun, destroyed some farm lands and fired at residents' houses causing damage to their property, eyewitnesses reported.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniya demanded an International investigation of war crimes committed against Palestinian civilians in Beit Hanouan and the all Palestinian areas.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israeli destroyed chances for peace saying that Israel is responsible for the consequences.

The Israeli army has redeployed around Beit Hannoun on Tuesday morning after a six-day military operation that left 63 Palestinians dead and more than 150 wounded.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061108/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians
Hamas chief: Truce with Israel is over By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 29 minutes ago

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip - Hamas' exiled leader, Khaled Mashaal, says a 2005 truce with Israel is finished and appealed to all Palestinian factions to resume attacks: "There must be a roaring reaction so that we avenge all those victims." Israeli tank shells ripped through a residential neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip early Wednesday, killing at least 18 members of an extended family, including eight children as they slept, Palestinian health officials and witnesses said.

Two Palestinian militant groups promised to step up suicide attacks in response.

Hamas' military wing in Gaza urged Muslims worldwide to attack U.S. targets, a call disavowed by the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Israel halted artillery attacks in Gaza while it investigated the shelling, but said operations would continue against Palestinian rocket squads. Both Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed regret at the loss of civilian life and offered humanitarian and medical assistance to the Palestinian Authority.

The tank shells landed around a compound of four apartment buildings in Beit Hanoun, the town Israel took over for a week in pursuit of militants who launch rockets at southern Israel. More than 50 Palestinians, most of them gunmen, were killed before Israeli troops withdrew on Tuesday, and the rocket attacks resumed immediately.

After the Wednesday shelling, gaping holes were torn into the structures, owned by four brothers from the al-Athamna family who lived side by side. Blood pooled in front of the houses.

Asma al-Athamna, 14, said her family was woken early Wednesday by the sound of an explosion. Her mother quickly ordered everyone out of the house. "She was saying, 'There is shelling.'"

Another shell landed as the family fled, killing the girl's mother, older sister and brother-in-law. "They were killed when they came out of our house," the weeping girl said, speaking from her hospital bed. "I was behind them and I was wounded. "

Bits of dismembered bodies were plastered to walls of the damaged buildings and lying on the ground. A woman's headscarf, children's boots and slippers, and a pair of jeans — all burnt — were strewn outside.

"I saw people coming out of the house, bleeding and screaming. I carried out a young girl covered with blood," said 35-year-old Rahwi Hamad. "We saw legs, hands, parts of heads stuck to the wall. There was a smell of blood and the stench of burnt bodies."

A young man, standing in the bloodied alleyway, said an infant girl had been blown to pieces. "I tried to look for her head, I tried to look for her head," he shrieked, then sank to the ground, weeping.

Weeping relatives gathered outside the homes. One man dipped his hand in victims' blood and smeared it all over his face. "God avenge us, God avenge us," he wailed.

Khaled Radi, a health ministry official, said all the dead belonged to the al-Athamna family. About 60 people were wounded, including 26 children, the ministry said.

The Israeli army said it had fired artillery at suspected rocket launching sites early Wednesday, but the targets were far from the apartment compound.

In Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the "terrible, despicable crime" jeopardized peace prospects. "We tell the Israelis, you are not seeking peace at all, but are destroying all chances for peace. You must therefore bear all the consequences of these crimes," he told Palestine TV.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas suspended talks with Abbas on forming a coalition government. Abbas, a moderate from the rival Fatah party, urged that negotiations continue. Both men declared a three-day mourning period throughout the West Bank and Gaza and, in a rare gesture, the two visited victims in a Gaza hospital together and each donated blood.

After the explosions, thousands of people, including relatives of the dead, gathered outside Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, where some of the bodies were brought. Many called for revenge.

Mashaal, Hamas's Syria-based leader, said his group was abandoning a February 2005 truce and would resume attacks, raising the prospect of a new wave of suicide bombings. Scores of Israelis have been killed in attacks by Hamas over the past decade.

"The armed struggle is free to resume, and the resistance is dictated by local circumstances," he told Al-Jazeera from Damascus.

Since the 2005 cease-fire there has been a sharp drop in violence, although rocket fire and periodic suicide attacks have continued. Hamas, however, has not been involved in any of the suicide bombings. The last Hamas suicide attack was in August 2004.

Hamas militants in Gaza, accusing the U.S. of supporting Israel, urged Muslims around the world to target "the American enemy."

But Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led government, said the group had no intention of attacking American targets. Israel, he added, "is a state that believes in killing, and therefore this state should cease to exist."

The killing of Palestinian civilians in the past has often preceded a sharp escalation of violence. A series of deadly incidents last summer, including a June 9 explosion on a Gaza beach that killed eight civilians, was followed by the capture of an Israeli soldier and an ensuing Israeli invasion of Gaza.

The civilian deaths drew swift condemnations around the world. France and Russia warned of an escalation of hostilities, and the British foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, demanded that Israel "respect its obligation to avoid harming civilians."

"It is hard to see what this action was meant to achieve and how it can be justified," she said in a statement.

The U.N. special envoy to the Middle East, Alvaro de Soto, said he was "deeply appalled and shocked." Jordan, one of three Muslim states with diplomatic ties to Israel, denounced the "heinous massacre."

Spontaneous demonstrations erupted across Gaza and the West Bank. In the Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, thousands called for revenge and chanted, "Death to Israel, death to America." Black smoke billowed into the skies of northern Gaza as protesters set tires ablaze.