Saturday, November 10, 2012

Israeli tank shells kill 4, wound 30 in Gaza



A wounded man is carried into a hospital in Gaza City following
Israeli shelling November 10, 2012. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli tank shells killed 4 Palestinians and wounded 30 in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, medics and witnesses said.

Ahmad al-Dardasawi, 18, and Muhammad Hararah, 17, were killed in Gaza City, and two unidentified men later died from injuries sustained in the attack.

At least 26 people were wounded in the shelling, with 10 said to be in a serious condition.

Residents said a crowded mourning tent in the al-Shujaiyeh neighborhood near Gaza City was full of people paying respects to a bereaved family man when a shell struck.

Four people were also wounded in Khan Younis as Israel's army targeted an area east of city, witnesses said.

"The occupation's targeting of civilians was a grave escalation that must not pass in silence," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

"Resistance must be reinforced in order to block the aggression."

The casualty toll is one of the highest in a single incident in Gaza in recent months.

Israel's army said four soldiers were injured when an "anti-tank missile was fired at an IDF patrol along the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip."

Two soldiers were seriously wounded and two moderately injured, Israeli media said.

Israeli forces targeted several sites in response, the statement added.

The Popular Resistance Committees said it had fired four rockets at communities close to the border and the towns of Sderot and Netivot in southern Israel, in what it called "the revenge invoice" for the deaths in Gaza.

The attacks took place during a period of increased violence along the Israel-Gaza border.



Hamid Younis Abu Daqqa, 13, was killed on Thursday after Israeli forces targeted houses and farms east of Khan Younis, according to Ashraf al-Qidra, a medical spokesman in Gaza.

On Tuesday, three Israeli soldiers were wounded by an explosive device in the southern Gaza Strip, Israel's army said.

A day earlier, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian man who approached a fence near Gaza's border with Israel, medics said.

Reuters contributed to this report
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