Israeli raid kills 12 in Rafah
2004-05-18 07:08
Gaza City - Eleven Palestinians were killed and over 30 injured early on Tuesday during a major Israeli raid on the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, while another died while trying to plant a bomb, medical sources at Rafah hospital said.
Three of the victims were shot dead by Israeli troops in the western Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood of the camp.
Five other Palestinians were killed when Israeli helicopters fired six missiles at the Bilal mosque in Tel al-Sultan an hour earlier, said Rafah hospital director Dr Ali Mussa.
Another 20 people were injured in that attack, several of whom were in serious condition, he said.
Shortly after the air strike, security sources and witnesses reported seeing more than 40 tanks completely taking over the area. Several military bulldozers also entered Tel al-Sultan and began razing buildings, but there was no immediate estimate as to how many were being destroyed.
Another three people were killed and eight injured in an earlier air strike on the flashpoint border town, while a fourth died while trying to plant a bomb, which apparently malfunctioned.
Medical sources named those killed in the first air strike as Walid Abu Jazar, 22, Mohamed al-Jundi, 20, and Mohamed al-Nawajiha, 27.
The man who died planting the bomb was named as Ibrahim Darwish, 23. Another two were injured in the accidental blast, one seriously, they added.
The bloodletting occurred shortly after the army announced it had sealed off the impoverished border town ahead of a widespread operation to destroy smuggling tunnels and hunt down wanted militants.
The latest deaths bring the overall toll since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, to 4 037, including 3 048 Palestinians and 918 Israelis.
- AFP