Israel drops 550 pound bomb on Gaza house

[dj XeNo]

Israel drops bomb on Gaza house during militant meeting; 6 killed

Associated Press
Jul. 12, 2006 07:05 AM


GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Sharply escalating its military campaign, Israel dropped a quarter-ton bomb on a Gaza home Wednesday in an attempt to assassinate top Hamas fugitives. Six people were killed, including five members of a family, Palestinian security officials said.

Islamic militants said their leaders got away. Three children were among those killed, Palestinian security officials said.

The nighttime aerial attack was bound to intensify international criticism of Israel. The United Nations has already complained about what it said was disproportionate use of Israeli force in the Gaza operation.

The campaign's declared aim is to force Hamas militants to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped last month and halt their rocket fire on southern Israel.

The Israeli military said Mohammed Deif, the leader of the Hamas military wing and No. 1 on Israel's wanted list for more than a decade, was wounded in the 2:30 a.m. airstrike, but it didn't know how badly.

Israel blames Deif, a master bomb maker, for many suicide attacks against Israeli targets. The bombing raid was the army's fourth attempt to kill him; he lost an eye in a 2002 missile strike.

Hamas confirmed that Deif was targeted, but denied he was wounded.

"We deny the allegations that commander Mohammed Deif was wounded, and we confirm that he and his colleagues have survived," Hamas' military wing said in a mobile phone text message.

Abu Obeideh, spokesman for Hamas' military wing, issued an unusually strong condemnation of the attack, using language employed only when Israel has assassinated top Hamas leaders. "We will make the leaders of the Zionist regime regret this Nazi crime," said part of his long statement.

He later told The Associated Press that the attack would "change all standards, opening new options that never have been used."

The strike destroyed a two-story house belonging to Hamas activist Dr. Nabil Abu Salmiyeh, a lecturer at Gaza City's Islamic University. Palestinian rescue teams dodged broken water pipes and electricity wires to get to injured people screaming for help.

They pulled out the mangled body of a child, clad in a red-T shirt. Rescuers placed body parts into bags, as other people sat on the ground, apparently in shock.

Palestinian security officials said a mother, father and three children from the Abu Salmiyeh family were killed in the strike. The sixth person killed was not immediately identified. Hospital officials said 37 people were wounded, three of them seriously.

Israel said leaders of the Hamas military wing were meeting in Abu Salmiyeh's home, and accused the militants of using civilians as a shield.

"Israel is compelled to take action against those planning to unleash lethal terror attacks against Israeli citizens," said David Baker, an official in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office. "Palestinian terrorist leaders continue to take refuge amongst and hide behind their own civilians."

After the bombardment, a car that fled the scene was hit by a missile fired from an Israeli aircraft, Palestinian security officials said. The two unidentified people who were in the car fled, they said.

Jittery Hamas activists carefully inspected the bodies being brought into the hospital. At daybreak they disclosed that Raad Saed, a senior Gaza commander, was wounded and was being treated at a secret location.

Israel Army Radio said Ahmed Ghandour, a Gaza commander involved in a June 25 Palestinian militant raid in which the Israeli soldier was captured, had also been inside the house and was seriously wounded.

More than 60 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, most of them gunmen, but about a dozen have been civilians. One Israeli soldier also has died, shot by fellow troops.

Security officials said Israel dropped a 550-pound bomb on the home, which collapsed and buried people under the rubble.

The house next door, set on stilts, leaned precariously. All the windows in the surrounding houses were blown out, and some walls were pocked with small shrapnel holes. People sat in damaged houses, peering through holes in the walls.

The scene resembled the aftermath of a 2002 attack in which an Israeli warplane dropped on one-ton bomb on the house of a Hamas leader in Gaza, killing him and 14 other people, including nine children. The attack set off criticism from human rights groups that still reverberates.

A neighbor, Safwan Amamour, 39, said he and his wife were cleaning their house next door when they heard a huge explosion, and he was hit by flying rubble.

As doctors stitched a cut next to his eye, he recounted grisly scenes of dismembered bodies. "No words can describe this destruction, this hellish damage, which I will remember of the rest of my life," he said.

Earlier in the day, Israel sent tanks and troops into southern Gaza from the Kissufim crossing, once the main access point to Jewish settlements, and an access road near city of Khan Younis and town of Deir al-Balah.

Troops also entered Israel's former Gush Katif settlement bloc, evacuated when Israel ended its 38-year occupation of Gaza last summer. They took control of Gaza's main north-south road, cutting the coastal strip in two.

The Israeli military confirmed that forces were operating in southern Gaza, but gave no details.

A Palestinian policeman was killed and another wounded in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces at an outlying police post near Kissufim, Palestinian hospital officials said. An airstrike near Kissufim killed a commander of the Hamas-linked Popular Resistance Committee, Palestinian security officials said.

[asian_guy_786]

I think this thread is going to go more then 10 pages

most member's are going to bring the same kinda comments they left in other threads...back and fourth

[NYzNiCCa]

[dj XeNo]

For all you blowhards that will argue this guy was a member of Hamas, he deserved to be killed, blah blah blah....save your bullshit rhetoric for another sunny day.

Israel has all the technical skills and means to snipe this guy, capture him while he's teaching class, or ambush him on his way home from work (assuming of course he is actually a member of Hamas).

But what does Israel do? Take out his entire block instead.

[nayeemx33]

"Israel has a right to defend itself" said by George Bush

[NYzNiCCa]

Originally Posted by nayeemx33

"Israel has a right to defend itself" said by George Bush

Israel is a HER! no wonder why everyone is after that bitch.

[NYzNiCCa]

Originally Posted by dj XeNo

For all you blowhards that will argue this guy was a member of Hamas, he deserved to be killed, blah blah blah....save your bullshit rhetoric for another sunny day.

Israel has all the technical skills and means to snipe this guy, capture him while he's teaching class, or ambush him on his way home from work (assuming of course he is actually a member of Hamas).

But what does Israel do? Take out his entire block instead.

exactly my point.

[asian_guy_786]

Originally Posted by dj XeNo

For all you blowhards that will argue this guy was a member of Hamas, he deserved to be killed, blah blah blah....save your bullshit rhetoric for another sunny day.

Israel has all the technical skills and means to snipe this guy, capture him while he's teaching class, or ambush him on his way home from work (assuming of course he is actually a member of Hamas).

But what does Israel do? Take out his entire block instead.

They just want to show they got the tech to do that. sad heartless people

[mr ajnabi]

Originally Posted by asian_guy_786

They just want to show they got the tech to do that. sad heartless people

lol who's that in you sig' hamas or hezbollah .

[mr ajnabi]

Originally Posted by dj XeNo

Israel drops bomb on Gaza house during militant meeting; 6 killed

Associated Press
Jul. 12, 2006 07:05 AM


GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Sharply escalating its military campaign, Israel dropped a quarter-ton bomb on a Gaza home Wednesday in an attempt to assassinate top Hamas fugitives. Six people were killed, including five members of a family, Palestinian security officials said.

Islamic militants said their leaders got away. Three children were among those killed, Palestinian security officials said.

The nighttime aerial attack was bound to intensify international criticism of Israel. The United Nations has already complained about what it said was disproportionate use of Israeli force in the Gaza operation.

The campaign's declared aim is to force Hamas militants to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped last month and halt their rocket fire on southern Israel.

The Israeli military said Mohammed Deif, the leader of the Hamas military wing and No. 1 on Israel's wanted list for more than a decade, was wounded in the 2:30 a.m. airstrike, but it didn't know how badly.

Israel blames Deif, a master bomb maker, for many suicide attacks against Israeli targets. The bombing raid was the army's fourth attempt to kill him; he lost an eye in a 2002 missile strike.

Hamas confirmed that Deif was targeted, but denied he was wounded.

"We deny the allegations that commander Mohammed Deif was wounded, and we confirm that he and his colleagues have survived," Hamas' military wing said in a mobile phone text message.

Abu Obeideh, spokesman for Hamas' military wing, issued an unusually strong condemnation of the attack, using language employed only when Israel has assassinated top Hamas leaders. "We will make the leaders of the Zionist regime regret this Nazi crime," said part of his long statement.

He later told The Associated Press that the attack would "change all standards, opening new options that never have been used."

The strike destroyed a two-story house belonging to Hamas activist Dr. Nabil Abu Salmiyeh, a lecturer at Gaza City's Islamic University. Palestinian rescue teams dodged broken water pipes and electricity wires to get to injured people screaming for help.

They pulled out the mangled body of a child, clad in a red-T shirt. Rescuers placed body parts into bags, as other people sat on the ground, apparently in shock.

Palestinian security officials said a mother, father and three children from the Abu Salmiyeh family were killed in the strike. The sixth person killed was not immediately identified. Hospital officials said 37 people were wounded, three of them seriously.

Israel said leaders of the Hamas military wing were meeting in Abu Salmiyeh's home, and accused the militants of using civilians as a shield.

"Israel is compelled to take action against those planning to unleash lethal terror attacks against Israeli citizens," said David Baker, an official in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office. "Palestinian terrorist leaders continue to take refuge amongst and hide behind their own civilians."

After the bombardment, a car that fled the scene was hit by a missile fired from an Israeli aircraft, Palestinian security officials said. The two unidentified people who were in the car fled, they said.

Jittery Hamas activists carefully inspected the bodies being brought into the hospital. At daybreak they disclosed that Raad Saed, a senior Gaza commander, was wounded and was being treated at a secret location.

Israel Army Radio said Ahmed Ghandour, a Gaza commander involved in a June 25 Palestinian militant raid in which the Israeli soldier was captured, had also been inside the house and was seriously wounded.

More than 60 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, most of them gunmen, but about a dozen have been civilians. One Israeli soldier also has died, shot by fellow troops.

Security officials said Israel dropped a 550-pound bomb on the home, which collapsed and buried people under the rubble.

The house next door, set on stilts, leaned precariously. All the windows in the surrounding houses were blown out, and some walls were pocked with small shrapnel holes. People sat in damaged houses, peering through holes in the walls.

The scene resembled the aftermath of a 2002 attack in which an Israeli warplane dropped on one-ton bomb on the house of a Hamas leader in Gaza, killing him and 14 other people, including nine children. The attack set off criticism from human rights groups that still reverberates.

A neighbor, Safwan Amamour, 39, said he and his wife were cleaning their house next door when they heard a huge explosion, and he was hit by flying rubble.

As doctors stitched a cut next to his eye, he recounted grisly scenes of dismembered bodies. "No words can describe this destruction, this hellish damage, which I will remember of the rest of my life," he said.

Earlier in the day, Israel sent tanks and troops into southern Gaza from the Kissufim crossing, once the main access point to Jewish settlements, and an access road near city of Khan Younis and town of Deir al-Balah.

Troops also entered Israel's former Gush Katif settlement bloc, evacuated when Israel ended its 38-year occupation of Gaza last summer. They took control of Gaza's main north-south road, cutting the coastal strip in two.

The Israeli military confirmed that forces were operating in southern Gaza, but gave no details.

A Palestinian policeman was killed and another wounded in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces at an outlying police post near Kissufim, Palestinian hospital officials said. An airstrike near Kissufim killed a commander of the Hamas-linked Popular Resistance Committee, Palestinian security officials said.

I heard rumors about a possible collision between them 2 ' on the ground. Thats where hezboallah will show their strength.

[NYzNiCCa]

3 children were killed.....