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Tel Aviv, 08 apr 2003 - 21:55
MO, raid a Gaza: sette morti e oltre 30 feriti

E' salito a sei il numero dei palestinesi uccisi, fra i quali tre fra bambini e adolescenti - e più di 30 feriti nel raid israeliano a Gaza, dove un cacciabombardiere F-16 israeliano ha centrato a colpi di razzi un'auto con a bordo uno dei capi locali di Ezzedin El Qassam, braccio armato di Hamas.

Testimoni oculari hanno raccontato che un cacciabombardiere F-16 ha centrato con almeno un razzo (tre secondo altre fonti) un'auto con a bordo Saad Al Arabid (35 anni), capo locale della milizia di Hamas, e il suo luogotenente Ashraf Al Halabi (anch'egli di 35 anni). I due miliziani integralisti sono rimasti uccisi sul colpo, ma pochi minuti dopo - hanno ancora raccontato i testimoni - un elicottero da combattimento Apache ha sparato altri tre razzi contro la folla che si era raccolta attorno all'auto centrata dall'F-16, provocando altri quattro morti e oltre 30 feriti.

Uno degli uccisi nel secondo attacco era un passante, Omar Nassar (24 anni). Gli altri tre erano bambini o adolescenti, ma la loro identità non è stata ancora resa nota. Tra gli oltre 30 feriti ricoverati all'ospedale Al Shifa, alcuni sono in fin di vita e si teme che il pesante bilancio del raid aereo israeliano possa aggravarsi in nottata.(red)

5 palestinesi uccisi da un missile lanciato da un F16 su un'auto a Gaza

Un caccia dell'IAF (Israeli Air Force) ha lanciato un missile contro un auto nella città di Gaza questa sera, uccidendo 5 persone e ferendone 47, otto dei quali in gravi condizioni.

Alcuni dei morti erano attivisti di Hamas, incluso Sa'id Ardib, uno dei leader del braccio militare dell'organizzazione.

Tra i morti due bambini, di quattro e quindici anni, secondo fonti palestinesi. Una donna e altri bambini sono tra i feriti.

Questo è il primo attacco aereo a Gaza dall'inizio della guerra in Iraq.

I cadaveri non sono stati immediatamente identificati. I corpi dilaniati sono stati portati nell'ospedale di Shifa in Gaza city, dove regnava una scena di confusione mentre le ambulanze trasportavano i feriti dal luogo dell'attacco.

I residenti hanno riferito che due caccia F16 israeliani volavano bassi sulla città, rompendo la barriera del suono, nei minuti precedenti all'attacco aereo.

L'IDF (Israeli Defense Force) ha rifiutato di commentare.

Un mese fa, un attacco di un elicottero dell'IAF su un'auto sempre a Gaza aveva ucciso Ibrahim al-Maqadma, 51 anni, uno dei fondatori di Hamas. L'organizzazione ha ucciso centinaia di israeliani durante questa Intifada cominciata nel settembre 2000.

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5 Palestinians killed when F-16 fires missile at car in Gaza

An Israel Air Force warplane fired a missile at a car in Gaza City after sundown Tuesday, killing five people and wounding 47, eight of them critically.

Some of the dead were Hamas activists, including Sa'id Arbid, one of the leaders of the organization's military wing.

The dead included two children, ages four and 15, Palestinians sources said. Woman and other children were among the wounded.

This was the first air strike in Gaza since the beginning of the war in Iraq.

The dead were not immediately identified. The mangled bodies were taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where a scene of pandemonium reigned as ambulances ferried casualties from the scene of the strike.

Residents said two Israeli F-16 fighter planes circled low over Gaza City, breaking the sound barrier, in the minutes before the air strike.

The Israel Defense Forces refused to comment.

A month ago, an IAF helicopter strike on a car in Gaza City killed Ibrahim al-Maqadma, 51, a founder of Hamas. The organization has killed hundreds of Israelis during the current intifada which began in September 2000.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/282002.html

Eight people were killed, some of them Hamas terrorists, in an IAF missile strike in Gaza City Tuesday night.

Witnesses said an F-16 warplane fired a missile at a Subaru car in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood, turning it into a mass of charred metal.

One of those killed was Said Arabid, 33, from Gaza.

Arabid was one of the top commanders of Hamas' military wing in Gaza, Izzadin al Kassam.

According to the IDF, Arabid led the military operations of Hamas, together with Mohammed Deif, since the early 90's.

The two men were responsible for the planning and execution of scores of attacks against Israelis.

Arabid was directly involved in the attack that led to the death of an Israeli soldier in 1993, and in the bombing of a bus on Tel-Aviv's Dizengoff Street in October 1994 in which 21 Israelis were killed and dozens were injured.

Arabid was directly involved in the kidnap and murder of Corporal Nachshon Waxman. A Golani regiment soldier, Corporal Waxman was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 9th 1994. He was eventually located in a house at the West Bank town of Bir Naballa.

An elite IDF force from Sayeret Matkal stormed the house, but the raid failed: the force's commander, Nir Poraz, was killed in the firefight, and the terrorists managed to kill Waxman before they were shot dead.

Arabid was arrested by the Palestinian Authority in May 1999, but was released at the start of the Intidadah. The IDF says that Arabid was actually recruited to the Palestinian Preventative Security organization, which it says has strong ties with Hamas.

The other known Hamas terrorist killed in Tuesday's action was Ashraf Halabi, 28, of the Shati refugee camp in Gaza. Halabi worked closely with Arabid in Hamas' military wing. Halabi was arrested by Israel in 1994 and the PA in 2000.

The warplanes fired the first missiles, and this was closely followed by a second attack on the car by IAF Apache attack helicopters, reports Israel Radio.

A witness, Yussef Touth, 24, said the white car was approaching an intersection when he saw the two planes, and then "suddenly I saw a big flame in the sky" and the missile hit the car. He was wounded in both legs and lay covered with blood in the hospital. "I saw bodies torn to pieces," he said.

The mangled bodies of the people inside were brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
The Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City is known as a stronghold of the Hamas.

There are as yet no details of the other occupants of the car.

This was Israel's first air strike in Gaza since the start of the Iraq war.

(With The Associated Press)

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1049775239162