Israel murders more civilians

At around 02.00 MSK on Tuesday, two Apache helicopter gunships from the Israeli Air Force launched three missiles against a four-storey building and a 4-wheel drive vehicle parked outside, in Jan Yunes, on the southern border of the Gaza Strip. 4 deaths and 16 injuries were the result of this attack.

After a pause, when a large crowd had gathered to see what was the cause of the explosions, the ambulances had had time to arrive and the fire crews had started to put out the flames in one of the most heavily-populated civilian areas in the world, the Israeli helicopters returned, firing another four missiles into the area. At least thirty injuries were caused in this attack, eight cases being serious, according to medical sources in Gaza.

The attacks followed an exchange of fire between the Israeli Armed Forces and Palestinian extremists and preceded a reply by the Palestinians, in a mortar attack against a Jewish colony built on land seized from the Palestinians in Gaza.

Earlier, the special US envoy to the region, ex-General Anthony Zinni, had called for a 48-hour truce. The Palestine Authority has called on the international community to react “because the Palestinians are paying for the struggle every day with the lives of innocent victims”, according to a communication issued by Yasser Arafat’s government, which also referred to “the continued Israeli massacre against the innocent Palestinian people using Apache helicopters”.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru