By Sameh A. Habeeb.
One was killed and five injured including two children Saturday as Israeli artillery bombarded the northern Gaza Strip towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. Palestinian factions responded by firing several projectiles at Israeli targets
Gaza – Ma’an – One Palestinian was killed and five injured including two children Saturday as Israeli artillery bombarded the northern Gaza Strip towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. Palestinian factions responded by firing several projectiles at Israeli targets.
Sunday started with two ground-to-ground missiles fired by the Israeli army at a group of Palestinian fighters killing 25-year-old Ali Hijazi and injuring two others who have not been identified.
Initial reports said Hijazi was with a group of civilians, though later information confirmed the three were fighters affiliated with Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades.
A third Israeli missile was fired at the same area, causing no casualties.
Responding to the Israeli attacks Brigades affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Al-Qassam and Al-Quds, fired projectiles on a number of Israeli towns Saturday afternoon.
The Al-Qassam brigades fired six homemade shells on two Israeli military posts in Sufa and the military intelligence center east of Rafah city. The Al-Quds brigades fired one homemade projectile on Sderot north east of Gaza.
The Brigades affirmed their intention to continue shelling Israeli areas in response to the attacks on Gaza.
As Brigades launched projectiles Palestinian medical sources at Kamal Udwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya received the body of Hijazi, who they described as arriving at the hosptial “torn to pieces.” The injured fighters were reported to have been treated for moderate to slight wounds.
Following the attacks witnesses noted Israeli reconnaissance planes flying over the northern Gaza Strip, while Israeli forces moved, unusually, on the ground; perhaps in preparation for an incursion in the area.
Israeli tanks later fired shells on the northern Gaza Strip, injuring two children near the Erez Industrial Zone.
The seven and three-year-old were moderately injured and taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital for treatment, said Head of Emergency department Mu’weiyah Hasaneen.
Then Saturday evening the Al-Aqsa Brigades, affiliated with Fatah, claimed three homemade projectiles that landed near Ashkelon.
A Brigades statement said the act was in response to “Israeli escalation and attacks on Gaza,” and specifically for the death of one Al-Aqsa Brigadesman and the injuring of three others Saturday morning.
Due to the apparent Israeli armed forces’ buildup, a spokesperson for Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades called on Palestinian factions to watch for Israeli warplanes flying overhead.
“We will respond to Israeli shelling, and we call on activists to stay alert,” the spokesperson, Abu Ahmad said.
With regard to forming of a cooperative operation center, he said, “We would like to form a joint operation room, but that is not currently possible due to disagreement between factions.”
Meanwhile, a Palestinian activist from the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Muhammad Abu Shammalah, succumbed to wounds sustained five years ago.
According to Palestinian medical sources, Abu Shammalah was injured five years ago in an Israeli airstrike on the central Gaza Strip. He was paralyzed in the attack, and on Saturday died of complications from his injuries.
