By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East
GAZA CITY, Gaza – On February 27, violence between militants in Gaza and Israel escalated. Early in the day, an Israeli air strike killed five militants from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. According to witnesses, two missiles, fired by the IAF, struck the militants’ vehicle near Khan Younis. Dr Moaiya Hassanain, a Gaza health ministry official, stated that four other people were wounded in the attack.
Militants fired rockets into southern Israel in retaliation to what Hamas called “the Zionist massacre committed this morning in Khan Younis.” Over 40 rockets were fired into Israel; one landed on an Israeli college campus in Sderot, killing a 47-year-old Israeli. It was the first fatal rocket attack since May 2007.
The Israeli military responded by carrying out air strikes later that day and continued into the next day. The operations resulted in at least 27 Palestinian deaths in two days. Of the 27 deaths, at least seven were civilian children.
Two children, aged 10 and 11 were killed in an air strike on February 27. Another, a six-month old boy, was killed later that evening, when Ministry of Interior office was targeted in a missile attack. While the office was empty, it is located in a highly residential area. Dozens of other Palestinians were injured during the strike. The strike against the Ministry of Interior also caused extensive damage to the nearby offices of Oxfam-funded Palestinian Medical Relief Society.
On February 28, four boys, between the ages of 10 to 15 years, were killed while playing football near the Jabalya refugee camp. According to Ahmed Dardouna, a family member, the boys were all related; two were brothers and the others were their cousins. Also, hospital officials said that another child, a 12-year-old neighbor, died later, as a result of injuries sustained during the strike. Yedioth News reports that the boys were not playing football, rather they were 16 to 17 year olds engaging in militant activity. Also, the Israeli army said that they were targeting a rocket-launching cell.
Another strike was conducted against a police roadblock in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, about 150 yards from the home of Haniyeh, Hamas’ prime minister. It is thought that the strike was a message to Haniyeh since the area is not usually used to launch rockets. Earlier that day, Haniyeh said that Israel’s ongoing operations would “not weaken the steadfastness and the determination of the Palestinian people.”
In another strike, the son of Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya, Hamza al-Haya, was killed. Hamas said Hamza al-Haya had commanded a rocket-launching squad in northern Gaza. When identifying his son in the morgue, Khalil al-Haya stated that he was proud that his son had lost his life for the Hamas cause and that he was “the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom.
Despite, and in response to, Israel’s operations, militants fired at least 10 rockets into Israel on February 28. Israeli officials state that at least five foreign made Katyusha rockets reached Ashkelon, a city of 120,000, nearly 20km north of Gaza.
For more information, please see:
The Guardian – Intensified Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill Child Footballers – 29 February 2008
The Independent – Killed While They Played Football, the Child Victims of Israel’s Revenge on Gaza – 29 February 2008
AFP – Israel Pounds Gaza Militants after Rocket Death – 28 February 2008
Al Jazeera – Children Killed in New Israeli Raid – 28 February 2008
Associated Press – Israel Kills 18 Palestinians in Gaza – 28 February 2008
BBC – Four Children Die in Gaza Strike – 28 February 2008
Financial Times – Mideast Fear as Rocket Kills Israeli – 28 February 2008
Ha’aretz – IDF Kills 20 Palestinians in Gaza, W. Bank, Including 5 Children – 28 February 2008
Yedioth News – Report: 4 Teens Killed in IDF Strike – 28 February 2008
Al Jazeera – Israel Bombs Gaza Interior Ministry – 27 February 2008
