In apparent retaliation for a Palestinian resistance attack on Karm Abu Salem crossing earlier Saturday, Israeli forces fired a missile on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip at 10:55 pm Saturday night, killing four. An earlier air strike in Rafah, in southern Gaza, killed one Palestinian police officer and injured four civilians; and another in Al-Shuja'eyya camp east of Gaza City killed one. Medical sources identified the man killed in the Rafah airstrike as 22-year old Mu'in Hamdona. He was declared dead upon arrival at the Abu Yousef Najjar Hospital in Rafah. The missile apparently targeted Hamdona in an assassination attempt by Israeli forces. Such assassinations are almost daily occurrences in Gaza, although they are illegal under international law due to the large civilian population who are inevitably impacted by the airstrikes. In this case, four bystanders were injured. One of them was a twelve-year old girl, Shadia Attiya bin Hassan.
One Palestinian was killed and two others were wounded in a separate airstike on Al-Shuja'eyya refugee camp, east of Gaza City. Medical sources reported that Eyah al-Mughani, 21, was killed upon impact, his body dismembered, while two others were wounded moderately, when Israeli warplanes fired at least one missile at a group of people in the street.
And in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, four Palestinians were killed. Their bodies have not yet been identified.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the airstrikein Jabalia was targeting members of the al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. The missile hit a vehicle driving near the Palestinian Authority Civil Administration headquarters in Jabalia camp, according to Israeli sources.
These airstrikes come on the eve of the Jewish feast of Passover, which is set to begin on Sunday, April 20th and last until the 26th. Israeli military spokespeople have said the military will enforce a full closure of all Palestinian areas during the Jewish holiday. During the closure, Palestinians are banned from entering Israel, except for doctors and lawyers and in humanitarian cases. This arbitrary practice of closing Palestinian areas during all Jewish holidays is something that has been in constant practice since the Israeli military began their occupation of all Palestinian land in 1967.
