As the Israeli army continued its military offensive targeting Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern part of the Gaza Strip Palestinian medical sources reported that the death toll in the Gaza Strip stood at 56 by Saturday night.Dr. Mo’awiyeh Hassanin, of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the coastal region, said that 56Palestinian have been killed by Israeli fire since the Israeli military ground offensive started on Saturday at dawn. He added that 11 of those killed are resistance fighters, while the other 45 are civilians including 10 children, the youngest of whom was just 2 days old.
Hassanin said that so far today 189Palestinian have been injured, the majority of whom are civilians.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health the death toll in Gaza due to Israeli attacks since last Sunday now stands at 100, including 25 children.
Ongoing operation:
Jihad Al Khalidi, a resident of Jabalyia whose home is under attack by Israeli tanks told IMEMC ‘we have no phones or electricity, the tanks are firing at us. We are unable to move. The water is also cut off.’
Al Khalidi said that soldiers are using roof troop as shot out posts and firing at anything that move. He added that tanks are shelling civilian homes.
The Israeli army started its military offensive at around 1:00 am on Saturday, when at least 30 tanks and bulldozers supported by a battalion of infantry troops attacked the Jabalyia refugee camp in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Lacking fuel and medicine:
Dr. Bassam Abu Wardah, the Director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip told IMEMC ‘we do not know what we will do if the operation continues. We are suffering from lack of medicine and fuel.’
Israel has imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip since June 2007, leaving the 1.5 million Palestinians living Gaza lacking fuel and medicine
Attacking media and medical crews:
Medical crews reported that they came under fire as they tried to evacuate the injured from Jabalyia refugee camp. On Saturday midday Israeli tanks targeted two media crews as they were covering the invasion.
Hiba Abu Shamalih, the Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent in the Gaza Strip, stated that she came under fire along with her camera crew as they were covering the events in Gaza this morning.
Politically
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated on Saturday midday that he condemned the military offensive and considered it a threat to peace.
Meanwhile Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, told reporters that his army will continue attacking the Gaza Strip until the Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza stop firing homemade shells at the nearby Israeli areas.
The Israeli government announced on Friday that its army has completed preparations for a wide-scale offensive against Gaza.
The Palestinian resistance
Meanwhile, the Israeli army announced that Palestinian resistance fighters managed to kill two invading soldiers and destroyed a military vehicle on Saturday.
Palestinian resistance groups fired 13 homemade shells at nearby Israeli areas on Saturday morning, injuring three civilians in the southern Israeli town of Sderot that borders the Gaza Strip.
The Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, said that 8 of its fighters were killed on Saturday during armed clashes with the Israeli army. Meanwhile the Al Quds brigades said that three fighter from their group were also killed in clashes on Saturday morning.
Update from : 26 including four children killed in Gaza, death toll hits 55
Time : 12:14
Palestinian medical sources reported that at least 26 Palestinians killed and 62 injured during the on going Israeli military operation targeting Jabalyia refugee camp in the northern part of the Gaza strip on Saturday.
Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli troops and tanks invaded Jabalyia and opened fire at resident homes; meanwhile Israeli helicopters fire missiles at civilians homes and cars.
Palestinian medics said that the Israeli troops opened fire at them while they were evicting the injured.
The Al Qassam brigades the armed wing of the rolling Hamas party said that seven of its men were killed when Israeli helicopters fired missiles at resistance fighters groups defending Jabaliya.
Meanwhile the Al Qudes brigades said that one of its resistance fighters was killed by the Israeli army fire in Jabaliya.
Talking to IMEMC, Dr. Bassam Abu Wardah, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza city said that most of those killed and injured were civilians. Abu Wardah said’ we could hear the shelling from the hospital.’
The military operation started on Saturday at dawn, eyewitnesses said that army is continuing the shelling of resident homes.
Israeli media sources said that at least 12 home made shells were fired from the Gaza strip into nearby southern Israeli town of Sederot and injured three Israelis. Meanwhile the Israeli army reported that five soldiers were injured during the ongoing attack on the Jabalyia refugee camp.
This brings the number of those killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip since early Tuesday to 55 Palestinians, including women, children, men and members of the armed resistance. At least 150 Palestinians are injured, most of them children. Several are in critical condition, as reported by official medical sources.
This deadly attack comes shortly after Israeli minister of Defense Ehud Barak announced that preparations are complete for a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Of those killed today so far were:
1- Iyad Al Ashram 26.
2- Iyad Abu Shabak, 45,
3- and his daughter Jaclyn Abu Shabak, 17.
4-Musleh Abu Ali
5-Bassam Obeed, 45
6-and his son Mohamed 15.
7-Hamzah Al Jamal, 40.
8- Mustafa Abu Jalal, 18
9-Mohamed Al Madbuh, 18.
10- Hussen Abu Safi, 20.
11- Abdullah Abed Raboh
12- Nasser Manoun, 20
13 Saeed Al Hasheem, 20
14- Abdulah abu Sha’erah, 20
15-Samah Asalyiah, 17
16- and her sister Salwah 13.
17- Mo’tassem abed Raboh , 19
18- Ghader Abed Saleh 16
19- Mohamed Saleem 19.
Update from: 26 including four children killed in Gaza, death toll hits 45
Time 11:30
26 Palestinians, including 4 children, and more then 70 injured in early morning air strikes on the northern Gaza Strip city of Jabalia, as Israel carries out its promise of a holocaust on Gaza.
Medical sources reported that early this morning Israeli forces fired a missile directly into a home, killing a 12 year old girl, Yasmin Saafi and her little brother Iyad Mohammad Abu Saafi.
In a similar air attack, Israeli forces killed 45 year old Bassam Obaid and his son Mohammad. A baby girl also died late last night of injuries sustained in an attack on the northern Gaza Strip.
Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, announced that Mohammad Saleh was killed in another Israeli attack that targeted operatives of the movement.
Two other people were injured. All were rushed to Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Strip at dawn. From Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, two people were killed.
Israeli forces targeted a car in Jabalia in which Iyad Ashram was killed. Israeli forces also killed Abdullah Faraj, a member of the armed resistance wing who was fighting back.
