International Solidarity Movement Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.
Saed Bannoura, IMEMC & Agencies – Friday, 26 May 2006, 21:56
As the Israeli army continued its shelling of Palestinian neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday night, five Palestinians, including three teens – two of them members of the same family, were killed when their home was hit by artillery shells and caught fire, and seven others were injured.
A Palestinian medical source reported that one resident was killed near the Kissufim Crossing after the army fired with heavy artillery at the area.
Also on Friday, two members of the same family were killed and four other residents were injured after the army shelled Izbit Fad’ous, in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses reported that one of the Israeli artillery shells landed near a house that belongs to Qassem family, catching the house on fire in a blaze that killed three and injured four others.
The deceased were identified as Mohammad Yousef Qassem, Mustafa Shihada Qassem, and Arafa Zarandah. Seven other residents were hospitalized, one is in serious condition.
The residents were sitting in front of their house when an artillery shell hit them and the house.
A medical source at Kamal Adwan Hospital, in the Jabalia refugee camp, reported that the bodies of the three residents killed in the attack were severely mutilated.
Meanwhile, an Israeli military source denied shelling the area and claimed that the three residents were attempting to dismantle an old shell apparently fired by the army in previous incident.
Earlier on Friday, one resident identified as Omar Abu Warda, 54, died after the Israeli army shelled Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Abu Warda suffered shell fragmentations in his back and abdomen while working in his farmland.
One resident was also severely injured on Friday as the army continued firing shells at areas in the northern and eastern parts pf the Gaza Strip.
Israeli troops fired on Thursday evening and Friday morning at least 200 shells at the northern and eastern parts of the Gaza Strip.
