2ND Death toll rises to 44 in Israel's Gaza offensive

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Saturday November 4, 2006

Gaza- Two more Palestinians were killed Saturday by an Israeli missile in the Gaza Strip, boosting the death toll to at least 44 killed by Palestinian accounts since the start of Israel's large-scale ground operation. More than 150 others have been wounded, according to Palestinian health officials Saturday.

In the latest incidents, two Islamic Hamas members were killed Saturday afternoon after an Israeli aircraft struck a group of militants with a missile east of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip, medical sources said.

Palestinian eyewitnesses said that an Israeli army drone fired a missile at two Islamic Hamas militants east of the refugee camp while they were trying to launch a homemade rocket from northern Gaza Strip at Israel.

Medics said that the two men, brothers aged 25 and 23, were dead on arrival at Kamal Odwan Hospital near Jabalia. No further injuries were reported.

In the central Gaza Strip, another group of Islamic Jihad militants escaped unharmed after an Israeli aircraft targeted their car, said eyewitnesses. The group managed to jump to safety before the rocket struck the car.

Earlier Saturday, Mo'aweya Hassanein of the Palestinian Ministry of Health told reporters that he expected the number of casualties to mount as the Israeli army operation continues.

"The Israeli army is using all kinds of weapons and ammunition against the Palestinians," said Hassanein, adding that the Israeli army killed "women, children, paramedics and ambulance drivers."

However, an Israeli army spokesman said that most of those killed were militants and had been involved in launching homemade rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel.

Israeli army operations continued in the northern Gaza Strip for the fourth consecutive day, mainly in the town of Beit Hanoun.

Palestinian medics at al-Awda Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip said one Palestinian was killed on Saturday morning by Israeli aircraft strikes, and rescue teams found the body of another Palestinian, who was killed two days ago.

Dozens of Israeli army tanks, bulldozers and armoured vehicles stormed the town on Wednesday, completely seizing it. A curfew was imposed on the town, and Israeli soldiers are conducting house- to- house searches.

In northern Gaza City Saturday morning, a senior Islamic Hamas movement militant was killed in his car in an Israeli airstrike, eyewitnesses said.

Eyewitnesses said that Lo'ai al-Bourno, 32, was killed immediately when his car was directly hit by a missile.

The ruling Islamic group Hamas said it mourned al-Bourno, who was a commander in al-Qassam Brigades, the movement's armed wing, and an expert in manufacturing homemade rockets.

The Israeli army said the aim of the operation into the northern Gaza Strip was to rein in Palestinian militants and prevent them from launching homemade rockets at Israel.

Several Palestinian militant groups said they will not stop launching rockets at Israel, and vowed to carry out more revenge attacks.

In the West Bank, an Israeli army force killed Saturday morning the commander of Islamic Jihad armed wing in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses reported.

Meanwhile, negotiations to swap an Israeli soldier for Palestinian prisoners are threatened because Israel insists on selecting the prisoners it would release if the deal is achieved, local Palestinian media reported.

The Maan news agency quoted an unidentified source as saying Israel is sticking to a condition that it can select the Palestinian prisoners to be released, while the captors of the Israeli soldier are demading the same right.

Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit was kidnapped last June in a cross- border raid. The captors, led by the ruling Hamas movement, demanded to swap him for a number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, especially women, children and jailed militant leaders.

According to the source, the negotiations sponsored by Egypt were still in the early phases and were unlikely to be concluded soon.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency