Region | Palestinian Territories
Israelis kill seven Palestinians in Gaza City
Israeli troops searching for smuggling tunnels and explosives killed seven Palestinians yesterday in air strikes and gun battles on the outskirts of Gaza City.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:34 May 3, 2009
- A woman watches the funeral of Palestinians after they were killed by Israeli troops in Gaza.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Gaza City: Israeli troops searching for smuggling tunnels and explosives killed seven Palestinians yesterday in air strikes and gun battles on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Israeli forces have been operating in Gaza City's Shijaiyeh neighbourhood since the weekend and have killed a total of 17 Palestinians, most of them fighters, doctors said.
About 17,000 residents of the neighbourhood have been without power and running water since the army operation began, residents said. The Israeli army said an electricity pylon was hit on Saturday but has since been fixed.
Yesterday, Israeli troops killed seven Palestinians in two airstrikes and exchanges of fire, Palestinian witnesses and hospital doctors said. At least one of those killed was a gunman, doctors said.
Among those killed was a 14-year-old boy who was shot dead as he gathered with a group of people to watch the fighting, hospital officials said.
A 30-year-old man was killed by a heavy calibre bullet to the head as he was on the rooftop of his house.
Troops also flattened crops, destroyed greenhouses and chicken coops and uprooted dozens of trees, residents said.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas criticised militants for continuing to fire rockets at Israeli border communities.
"What is happening in Gaza as a result of rockets fired in vain must stop right now because there is no national interest in this continuing," Abbas said.
Shooting: Wounded Islamic Jihad man dies
A senior Palestinian militant leader who was shot by undercover Israeli troops in the West Bank a week ago died yesterday in a hospital in Jordan, representatives of his group said.
Hosam Jaradat, the leader of Islamic Jihad in the town of Jenin, was shot and wounded on August 23 by Israeli troops hiding out in a vehicle, witnesses said at the time. He was taken to hospital, where he was said to be in critical condition.
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