Thirteen people were killed Tuesday evening in Al Ghazziya, Lebanon, while attending the mass funeral of the fifteen Lebanese people killed just the day before.
Local sources reported that 1500 people were attending the funeral procession, praying and mourning, accompanying the fifteen coffins in a procession to the town’s cemetery, when the missiles hit.
The first missile dropped by Israeli warplanes hit a building quite near the procession, then, about thirty minutes later, four more missiles were dropped among the mourners, killing 13 and wounding 18, according to local hospitals and Mayor Mohammed Ghaddar.
An Associated Press report said that Ghaziyeh has been targeted by Israeli forces several times, but the attacks Monday and Tuesday were the heaviest, adding that the town is currently overflowing with displaced people, who have swelled its population to 23,000.
Witnesses said the planes may have been targetting the home of Sheik Mustafa Khalifeh, a cleric linked to Hezbollah. Most people with Hezbollah links left their homes at the beginning of the now four-week-long conflict.
And Israeli officials declared a no-drive zone in the entire region south of Lebanon’s Litani River — 20 miles from the border — warning residents that any vehicle on the roads would be destroyed on the assumption it was carrying Hezbollah rockets or supplies. The order left the streets of the region’s main city Tyre empty and civilians in villages across the south unable to flee. Many humanitarian organizations have also reported being targetted, and unable to get needed food and water to civilians who have been without basic necessities for several weeks.
updated from:
Five Lebanese killed in Al Ghaziyya village, in southern Lebanon
2006-08-08 15:46:53
Lebanese medical source reported that five civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike in Al Ghaziyya town, south of Saida, in southern Lebanon, at least 25 residents were injured in the attack.
The five were killed after the missiles hit a house in the town, rescue teams are still searching the rubble in an attempt to locate more residents who might be trapped or dead under it.
The shelling comes after a similar attack carried by the Israeli army in the town. At least fifteen civilians, including children, were killed after the Israeli air force missiles missiles at a three- story house, dozens were injured in the attack.
Also, Israeli air force and navy shelled all bridges leading to Al Ghaziyya completely destroying them.
The Qatar based Al Jazeera TV reported that soldiers shelled the coastal areas of Sour and Al Nabatiyya causing considerable damage.
In Ma’roub village, in southern Lebanon, soldiers shelled a school, 15 km east of the village, trapping several residents under the rubble.
Khalil Mousa, a guard at the school, told Al Jazeera that his wife and three children and one teacher are still under the rubble while rescue teams are trying to evacuate them and the injured residents who took the school as shelter from Israeli shells and missiles.
Moreover, Israeli planes dropped leaflets in areas close to the Litani warning the residents that any moving vehicle will be targeted.
Also, Israeli helicopters shells Adsheet village, Al Dabsha Hill and Al Rafee’ Mounatin.
In a separate attack, the Israeli air force shelled Hikma neighborhoud in Ansar village causing damage to several houses. The village was shelled two days ago, and seven family members were killed.
Soldiers also shelled areas west of Ba’labak; the shelling comes one day after nine residents were killed and twenty-six were injured in Bretal and Shamstar villages, near Ba’labak.
