Israeli Artillery Kills 75-Year-Old Woman in Jabalia
ABALIA, (WAFA)- An old woman was killed Thursday morning when Israeli artillery shelled her house in Jabalia town at the north of Gaza City, medical sources said.
They added that the elderly woman Kamla an-Najjar 75, of Izbet Abd Rabbo, north of Jabalia, was killed as a shrapnel of an Israeli shell hit her head, while number of her grandsons were wounded.
Later on, a citizen was wounded as Israeli artillery bombarded Tuffah neighborhood at the east of Gaza City.
Yesterday, 25 citizens were killed in the Israeli offensive on Gaza Strip.
IOF Arrests 10 Citizens in WB
HEBRON, - Israeli Occupation Forces(IOF) arrested Thursday morning ten citizens in the West Bank (WB) cities of Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, security sources said.
They added that Israeli troops moved at pre-dawn into central and east Hebron city and arrested four citizens, including two brothers, leading them into an unknown place.
WAFA reporter said that Israeli soldiers conducted a search campaign in Beit Fourek town and Balata Refugee Camp, east of Nablus City and arrested four citizens, leading them into an unknown location.
Witnesses told WAFA that Israeli border police arrested the youth Moussa Fara'on 14, of al-Ezarya town , east of Jerusalem and led him into an unknown fate.
More than six Israeli vehicles thrust into al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem, broke into the house of Ahmed Sa'id Moussa 38, Head of Friends of Political Prisoners Society in the city. He was led into unknown destination, security sources said.
IOF Wounds 15 Citizens in Gaza
GAZA, - At least fifteen citizens were wounded Thursday afternoon, five critically, when Israeli tanks opened heavy machineguns at houses, east of Gaza, medical and security sources said.
Security sources said that Israeli tanks, stationed in the eastern parts of Gaza City, opened random fire at houses and wounded at least fifteen citizens. Medical sources said the casualties were carried to hospital.
IOF Kills 1, Arrests 4 in WB
QALQILIA,- Medical sources said that an 18-year-old citizen, Hamada Daas, was killed Thursday by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the West Bank city of Qalqilia.
The sources said that Daas was critically wounded in the head and arrested by Israeli soldiers. They added that IOF died of his wounds he sustained hours before.
Witnesses said IOF broke into the city and surrounded a house and opened intensive fire at it. They added that the Israeli soldiers arrested four citizens during their attack.
Palestine Calls on UN Security Council to Bring End to Slaughter of Innocent Palestinian Civilians
NEW YORK,- The Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour said that the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to take all measures to bring an end to the slaughter of innocent Palestinian civilians.
In a letter to the President of the UN Security Council, French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, Mansour pointed out that tens of Israeli tanks stormed Shaja'yeh and al-Tuffah neighbourhoods, east of the Gaza Strip and killed 25 citizens, including three children and wounded scores others.
"Such disproportionate use of force by the occupying Power during its military attacks, which are a form of collective punishment against the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, continues to place the lives of Palestinian civilians at grave risk," Dr. Mansour said.
He called on the international community, to intervene to stop Israel's onslaught against defenseless and unprotected Palestinian civilians, otherwise the number of killed will continue to dramatically rise.
PCBS: Number of Colonisers in West Bank in 2005 Reached 451,441
RAMALLAH, - The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said the number of colonisers in the West Bank in 2005 reached 451,441.
In a statistical report about Jewish colonies in the Palestinian Territory for the year 2005, stated the number of colonisers in the West Bank in 2005 reached 451,441 colnisers including 191,575 in Jerusalem Governorate (J1).
The report contained statistical data about population, social, economic, and geographic indicators of the Israeli Settlements.
The PCBS said the report complies with its work plan and is the outcome of the efforts of PCBS to produce a series of statistical reports on Israeli aggression against Palestinian people. Such series of statistical reports aiming at producing required data on the situation of the colonies in the Palestinian Territory and to disclose the basic characteristics and factors in which they have an effect on the Palestinian society.
In demographic terms, the PCBS mentioned, the percentage of colonisers in the West Bank, according to 2005 data equaled 15.8% of the total persons living in the West Bank with the highest percentage at Jerusalem Governorate at 38.0% (43.3% of J1). The lowest percentage was in Jenin Governorate, at 0.7%.
Data indicated that the colonies in the West Bank were distributed into four stips, Eastern Strip includes 28 formal colonies, Mountain Strip includes 31 formal colonies, Western Hills Strip includes 48 formal colonies, and the Greater Jerusalem Strip includes 37 formal colonies.
The area of Built-Up Land of the Occupation Sites in West Bank totaled to 187,092 thousand square meters in August 2005, the largest area was in Jerusalem Governorate at approximately 23.7% of the total area of Built-Up Land of formal settlements in the West Bank.
RSF Condemns Israeli Targeting of Journalists in Gaza
PARIS,- Reporters without Borders (RSF) condemned Wednesday the Israeli targeting of Palestinian journalists in Gaza.
In a press release issued Wednesday (RSF) said Ibrahim Otla, a cameraman with the Palestinian public TV was seriously injured on the morning of July 26, 2006, by shots fired by a tank in eastern Gaza.
"We appeal to the Israeli authorities to put an end to targeted attacks on civilians and we call for immediate measures to ensure the safety of journalists covering the fighting," the organisation said.
"Journalists and other media workers have repeatedly been the victims of deliberate violence by the Israeli forces, especially in recent weeks," RSF added.
"We were wearing vests indicating that we were media workers," he said. "But an Israeli army tank located 150 metres away began firing towards us. We began to run but the shots continued," an eyewitness was quoted by RSF as saying.
RSF mentioned that Otla's assistant and a Japanese journalist were also injured and a Reuters vehicle was damaged.
New Israeli Air Strike on Gaza Kills 2
GAZA - Two citizens were killed and 16 wounded Thursday during new Israeli air strike on Gaza, medical sources said.
Shifa Hospital sources, in Gaza, told WAFA that Youssef Soaib 23 and Mohammed Kullab 30, were killed during the Israeli bombardment in Saladin St. in Gaza.
Three other citizens were wounded during the Israeli attack against the West Bank City of Jenin, security sources said.
UNICEF: Palestinian Children Hit Hardest in ongoing Gaza Crisis
NEW YORK - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that while clashes between Israel and Hezbollah intensify in Lebanon, fighting continues on a second front in Gaza in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
In a press release issued Thursday, UNICEF revealed that two young girls were killed Wednesday in Jabalia RefugeeCcamp in northeast Gaza and a three-year old girl, Sabrine, was killed in Al Shujayieh, a densely populated area in east Gaza.
UNICEF OPT's communication officer, Monica Awad, said that "Children of all ages are afraid", adding that "they have nightmares. Parents in Gaza tell us that children won't let go of their mothers. They are afraid to get out of the houses".
Awad, who visited bombed areas in Nablus in the West Bank where clashes have also broke out, said the situation for civilians remains very difficult, revealing that children and their families are confined to their homes without clean water or electricity.
Meanwhile, UNICEF's emergency efforts on the ground are focusing on health, nutrition, safe water and child protection and include the distribution of five generators to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Ministry of Health Primary Health Care clinics to ensure that vaccines are kept at appropriate temperatures.
"The procurement of $1.2 million in emergency drugs and disposables for over 400 health clinics, and the distribution of 566 family water kits (each serving 10 families) to affected communities," UNICEF said.
