7 Palestinian family members among the 10 killed in “Israeli” strikes at Gaza seaside

Source: AFP, 9-6-2006
GAZA CITY - Seven members of a Palestinian family, including three children, were killed on a day out at the seaside in the Gaza Strip when they came under fire from "Israeli" gunboats and artillery.
The deaths on the beachfront in the Sudania area of the narrow coastal territory raised the death toll from "Israeli" strikes to 14 in less than 24 hours with the other seven killed in air raids, according to medical sources.
Around 35 other people were wounded in the firing off the coast of Gaza, from which all "Israeli" ground troops were withdrawn last September.
Medical sources said that all those killed at the beach were members of the Ghali family from Gaza. The children were aged one, three and 10.
Other terrified, crying children who were injured in the attack were whisked to nearby hospitals in Gaza City and Jabaliya, television images showed.
The victims had been bathing on the coast on the traditional Muslim day of rest on one of the hottest days of the year.
The "Israeli" military confirmed that the navy had fired onto the beach but said it was believed the deaths were caused by shelling and not from the gunboats.
"The incident will be clarified," a spokesman claimed. "Our purpose was not to kill women and children."
The deaths at Sudania capped an upsurge of "Israeli" attacks in the Gaza Strip which began with an overnight air strike which killed the leader of a hardline armed faction and three other militants.
A further three suspected militants were killed in a fresh round of air strikes on Friday that targeted a group behind a new batch of rocket attacks.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said that he had been in contact with Western governments in a bid to rein in the "Israeli" military.
"We strongly condemn this dangerous "Israeli" escalation in the Gaza Strip," Erakat told AFP.
"I have made contacts with the US administration and the EU and asked them to intervene immediately to put an end to this dangerous escalation."
"Israeli" army radio quoted Defense (War) Minister Amir Peretz as saying the military activity was a response to increased attacks from militants, whom he said had fired 20 rockets onto "Israeli" territory since the start of the week.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians had earlier attended the funeral in southern Gaza for the victims of the overnight air strike in which Jamal Abu Samhadana, head of the Popular Resistance Committees, was killed.
Many of the mourners in the town of Rafah, which borders Egypt, chanted calls for suicide (self-sacrifice) bombings inside "Israel" to avenge the death of Abu Samhadana who had served as an advisor to the Hamas-led Palestinian government.
"Abu Ataya (Abu Samhadana), we will deliver our answer in Tel Aviv," chanted hundreds of armed followers in Rafah before unleashing a volley of gunfire into the air.
Abu Samhadana was one of the most "wanted" of all Palestinians, and "Israel" claimed he had been responsible for the dozens of deaths, including the 2003 bombing of a diplomatic convoy in Gaza that left three Americans dead.
The Hamas government said that the killing of Abu Samhadana was a "war crime" against a "national leader."
""Israel's" targeting of a government official is a dangerous step," government spokesman Ghazi Hamad told AFP.
""Israel" is responsible for the consequences of this crime and the response from the resistance."