A Palestinian mother and her children killed in fresh Israeli attack on Gaza

Sunday January 04, 2009 18:40 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC&Agencies

A Palestinian mother and her four children were reportedly killed in the most recent Israeli attack on Gaza on Sunday, medics and witnesses reported.

Israeli shelling of Gaza City

Medical sources reported that a mother and her four children, of the Baker family in the Gaza neighborhood of Attufah, were all killed this afternoon after their house was shelled by Israeli tanks.

Among those killed was a one-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl, medics said.

They added that earlier in the day, a four-member family of the Barbakh clan in southern Gaza Strip, including resistance fighter, Mohammad Barbakh, his father and his two brothers, were killed in an Israeli air strike.

Over the past 24 hours, Israeli troops have been carrying out a ground invasion in the North and East territory of the Gaza Strip, with continued air strikes from the Israeli Air Force, which began last Saturday with hundreds of aerial raids on the coastal region.

Earlier in the day, Israeli warplanes hit a market place in Gaza city, causing the death of five Palestinian residents, and injuring four others. A local Hamas leader, identified as Mohammad Abu Hila, and his comrade Jehad Hamdan, were among those killed.

According to medical records, the number of those killed in the last 24 hours has reached 30, including a dozen children and women, and more than 100 others have been wounded.

Since last Saturday, the Israeli war on the coastal enclave has claimed the lives of 505 Palestinians, including many civilian men, women and children, and has wounded more than 2300 others. At least 300 of the wounded are in critical conditions.

gaza strip | israeli attacks | news report rami at imemc dot org