An Israeli helicopter gunship fired a missile near a mosque in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood yesterday, killing three Hamas militants and injuring 13 civilians, after Palestinian militants detonated a bomb next to an Israeli armored column as troops scoured the neighborhood for remains of six slain soldiers, witnesses said.
The army did not immediately comment on the latest attack in Gaza's Zeitoun neighborhood, a bastion of Islamic militants. Palestinian witnesses had no immediate word on casualties in the explosion, which was heard across the city.
On Tuesday, a roadside bomb in Zeitoun killed six soldiers when it blew up an Israeli armored vehicle laden with explosives on a mission against suspected arms foundries.
PHOTO: EPA
Israel launched a sweep of the neighborhood to retrieve the troops' body parts, some of which are being held for ransom by Palestinian militant groups.
The militants proudly flaunted the body parts following the battle. At least nine Palestinians were reported dead in the ongoing fighting.
The Palestinian Authority, along with Egypt, urged Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants to return the remains. Israel pledged a harsh reprisal, saying it would not negotiate with the militants and vowing to continue its operation until it recovers the bodies.
After an overnight lull, heavily armed Israeli forces, backed by tanks and combat helicopters, resumed their search early yesterday. Gun battles erupted from time to time with Palestinian militants. Residents in the Zeitoun neighborhood were confined to their homes.
Early yesterday, bulldozers entered Zeitoun, destroying parts of the main road and remains of water pipes damaged in Tuesday's fighting.
Soldiers stormed 45 shops and garages during the searches. Residents and schoolchildren gathered at the edge of the neighborhood -- a Hamas stronghold -- while gunmen streamed into the area, sparking gunfights with troops.
During the fighting, Israeli troops fired a helicopter missile at a building where the army said militants were planting bombs and firing missiles. Nine people were wounded in the strike, none seriously, Palestinian hospital officials said.
Eight Palestinians were killed in Tuesday's fighting, and soldiers killed a ninth person yesterday who tried to fire an anti-tank missile at them, according to the army. Palestinian residents said a 10th person had been killed and buried under rubble. The report could not be independently confirmed. About 144 Palestinians have been wounded in the two days of fighting.
Saed Abdullah, a 45-year-old father of six who lives about 200m from the site of Tuesday's explosion, described the last 24 hours as a nightmare. He said he and his children spent hours hiding under beds as bullets penetrated the house, shattering windows and destroying furniture.
Soldiers stormed the house, locking the family into a room for more than five hours, Abdullah said. Then they took him and two other neighbors and used them as human shields as they searched the neighborhood, he added. Abdullah said he understood the need to collect the bodies.
"I believe there is no space for them on our land and there is no space to bury their body parts on our land either. The factions should hand over the bodies because the message has reached the world that we have defeated the Israeli army," Abdullah said.
Israel is known for going to great lengths to recover the remains of fallen soldiers, both because Jewish law requires the body to be buried intact and because the army fears militants will try to use the remains as bargaining chips.
Israel has carried out a number of lopsided deals, most recently in January, exchanging hundreds of Arab prisoners for the remains of dead soldiers.
Tuesday's fighting began as a routine Israeli operation to uncover and destroy weapons workshops, but changed direction when the explosives-laden armored vehicle ran over an improvised bomb.
Masked Palestinian gunmen rushed to collect the body parts following the explosion, saying they would use the flesh to barter with Israel for the release of prisoners.
Israel rejected the demand outright.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian Authority "is exerting every possible effort" to return the body parts to Israel.
VAGUE: The criteria of the amnesty remain unclear, but it would cover political violence from 1999 to today, and those convicted of murder or drug trafficking would not qualify Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons. The measure had long been sought by the US-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodriguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Rodriguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency. Rodriguez also announced the shutdown
Civil society leaders and members of a left-wing coalition yesterday filed impeachment complaints against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, restarting a process sidelined by the Supreme Court last year. Both cases accuse Duterte of misusing public funds during her term as education secretary, while one revives allegations that she threatened to assassinate former ally Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The filings come on the same day that a committee in the House of Representatives was to begin hearings into impeachment complaints against Marcos, accused of corruption tied to a spiraling scandal over bogus flood control projects. Under the constitution, an impeachment by the
Exiled Tibetans began a unique global election yesterday for a government representing a homeland many have never seen, as part of a democratic exercise voters say carries great weight. From red-robed Buddhist monks in the snowy Himalayas, to political exiles in megacities across South Asia, to refugees in Australia, Europe and North America, voting takes place in 27 countries — but not China. “Elections ... show that the struggle for Tibet’s freedom and independence continues from generation to generation,” said candidate Gyaltsen Chokye, 33, who is based in the Indian hill-town of Dharamsala, headquarters of the government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). It
China executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Fraud compounds where scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. In the past few years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation
RSS