Nine Palestinians Martyred in New "Israeli" Blitz on Gaza

Source: Al-Manar TV, 3-1-2008
Nine Palestinians, including two women, were martyred in "Israeli" ground and air bombardments in Gaza on Thursday, local medical sources said, in the latest blitz against the Hamas-ruled territory. "Israeli" troops and tanks backed by combat helicopters were operating in the village of Bani Suheila near the southern town of Khan Yunis, witnesses and medical sources said.
Nine people, including a mother and daughter and at least three resistance fighters, were martyred in the "Israeli" bombardments, while 33 people were injured and several houses destroyed. "Israel" has carried out near-daily military strikes and incursions across what it considers a "hostile entity" in a bid to halt rocket fire since the Islamic resistance movement Hamas seized power in Gaza in June.
The renewed violence comes shortly before US President George W. Bush is due in the region in a bid to push forward recently revived Middle East talks.
In Gaza, brothers Ahmad Fayyad, 20, and 25-year-old Sami Fayyad, both members of the Islamic Jihad, were killed in a raid on a house which also killed their mother, Karima, 50, and sister Asmaa, 20. One member of the armed wing of Hamas was also killed during gunbattles with "Israeli" occupation troops.
Aircraft also destroyed two houses and a third house was blown up by ground troops. Three unidentified bodies were found in the rubble of one of the buildings, medical sources said. "Israeli" jets also destroyed the house of an Islamic Jihad member who was martyred in December, causing a massive explosion but no casualties.
On Wednesday, "Israeli" occupation forces killed seven Palestinians, including six resistance fighters, in pre-dawn strikes in Gaza, an impoverished territory of about 1.4 million people. "Israel" has long been struggling to put an end to Palestinian rocket fire against the south of the country from Gaza. In September, the government's decision to declare the territory a "hostile entity" paved the way for economic sanctions and cutbacks in fuel and electricity supplies to Gaza, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis.
Also on Thursday, Gaza resistance fighters fired a Grad-type 122mm rocket that landed on the outskirts of the southern "Israeli" port city of Ashkelon, without causing casualties, the army said. The rocket fire was claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian General Command (PFLP-CG), a Damascus-based movement led by Ahmed Jibril, which rarely operates in Gaza. "Israeli" government spokesman Mark Regev said "Israel" was concerned that this rocket attack "could signal things to come" by placing hundreds of thousands of its settlers under rocket threat.
In the West Bank town of Nablus, troops in about 70 military jeeps moved into and surrounded buildings including the Rafidya hospital in a hunt for wanted Palestinians. The Palestinian government led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has in recent months deployed hundreds of police officers as part of an ambitious security plan in its West Bank power base. Although it supports the security plan, "Israel" has nevertheless reserved the right to operate inside Palestinian towns and villages to counter resistance activity.
Palestinian Authority presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina condemned the "Israeli" "escalation" in Gaza and Nablus which he said was undermining so-called ‘peace talks' that were relaunched at a US conference in November.