Image Credit: Mohammed Omer, Rafah Today 2006-10-04.
More Palestinians Civilians Killed By Israeli Bombings in Rafah
Rafah Today via BBSNews 2006-10-08 -- By Mohammed Omer. Hani Ibrahim Al Najjar, 27 years old was not on a picnic on the beach. He was a fisherman simply seeking to bring back some food to his family. Unfortunately, the sunset went westward that day and never returned. Hani was killed by an Israeli bullet fired from an Israeli naval vessel which is patrolling the beaches of Gaza Strip.
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Chaos in the Palestinian streets.
Image Credit: Mohammed Omer, Rafah Today 2006-10-04. |
Al Najjar is not the first case; the Israeli naval vessels are constantly targeting fishermen who are simply fishing inside their homeland! "Al Najjar was hit in the head by a bullet after Israeli warships opened fire on his vessel off the coast of Gaza" said medical workers at Al Aqsa hospital in the Deir Al Balah area.
Internal chaos and clashes continue as gun battles erupted Monday night between Fatah gunmen and Hamas militiamen in the southern Gaza town of Rafah , killing two people and wounding 14 a day after a deadly explosion of internal violence paralyzed the Gaza Strip. The internal clashes have been causing fear and horror among Palestinian population not only in Rafah, but also allover the Gaza Strip and even West Bank.
Fateh affiliated gunmen went on strikes, protests and demonstrations against the new Hamas government because more than 170.000 employees have not received their salaries for eight month. The clashes have reached an uncontrollable level. Roadblocks have been setup all over Gaza making movement very difficult.
One of the targeted areas by Fateh affiliated militants was the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture which was completely set ablaze. The number of people killed there has risen to 10 while more than 150 Palestinians have died in internal fighting in recent days.
The chaos is not controlled by the Palestinian government since it does not have the funds to even pay for such things as fuel for police vehicles let alone pay salaries. The Gaza and West Bank government does not have the finances to maintain itself.
Najah Amran 45, a Palestinian woman and mother for 7 children said, "I was awake with all my kind all the night, we were not able to sleep because of the shooting. We kept ourselves hidden in the sleeping room with my husband and 7 kids. My youngest daughter is very scared, even the older teenagers, they are not able to sleep alone, they come to me in the night crying and saying that they are afraid."
In Rafah:
I got up yesterday because of the hovering of the Israeli F-16s and the bomb which hit one of the house in our neighborhood in Rafah, where I was asleep. The bomb was really scary and very loud and it smashed the windows of people's houses. It flattened and demolishing its target which was a two story house, and also killed two children and wounded many others. A similar bomb hit the Eastern part of Rafah, Tal Al Sultan. Again, many civilians were injured and killed by Israeli F-16s.
Some wander when all these attacks will stop so that life can come back to normal in Palestine. This is a question to which every Palestinian is waiting for an answer – but as usual – the only answer given is a green light for Israel to carry out more military attacks against Palestinian refugees. As I am writing, Israeli bulldozers are rooting up large numbers of olive and orange trees at Jabalya on the Gaza Strip.
In Rafah, the whole area of Al Shouka and Umm Al Nasser are under daily attacks. The media is unable to get into these areas. More people are getting killed and arrested. Houses are being demolished and the agriculture and greenhouses, the main source of income for these people are being deliberately destroyed. What else can we think but the Israelis purposes to destroy us all?
Mohammed Omer is a young journalist/photographer in the Gaza Strip. He and his family have a very rough time in living day to day and they have lost much. In October of 2003, one of Mohammed's younger bothers, Issam, was injured and had to have a leg amputated. Later in the same month another younger brother, Hussam Al-Mouhagir, was killed in his home; shot to death by the Israeli Army that occupies and regularly devastates Palestine. These stories are written by Mohammed who knows no peace, only the continued devastation forced upon civilians who have little voice in the world. Mohammed has covered the Occupied Territories for several years. Visit Mohammed's Web site, or write to him to get a more complete picture of what is really happening that main-stream news sources rarely brings to its audience. We are proud to feature articles from Mohammed Omer here at BBSNews, his reporting is some of the only original, on the ground reporting available from the Israeli Occupied Territories.
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