Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Foreign leaders denounced the ongoing operation.
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) -- An Israeli missile and four tank shells ripped through a large crowd of Palestinians demonstrating against the Israeli invasion of a neighboring refugee camp, killing at least 10 Palestinians. Hospital officials said all the victims were children and teenagers.
Israel's military acknowledged that soldiers fired four tank shells, a missile and machine guns to stop 3,000 Palestinian demonstrators it said were heading toward a battle zone in the Gaza Strip today.
"There were armed men in the midst of the demonstration," Brig. Gen. Ruth Yaron, the army spokeswoman, told Israel TV's Channel One.
The White House said it was "very concerned" about the reports.
"We've asked for the government of Israel for the facts about what happened today," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said today. "We continue to follow this closely. We urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint."
Handling casualties
The wounded were evacuated to the Rafah hospital by ambulance, private car and donkey cart, witnesses said. The hospital stairs and floors were drenched in blood as doctors shouted for help and blood donations. Hospital staff treated the wounded on the floors after quickly running out of beds.
Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, a senior Palestinian Health Ministry official, said at least 10 people were killed and 50 wounded. Of the wounded, 23 were critically hurt and 13 were in "hopeless" condition, he said, adding that most of the wounded were children.
"We cannot handle the situation; no hospital in the world can handle the situation," Hassanain said.
"I got instruction from President [Yasser] Arafat to mobilize all our teams to Rafah immediately and declare a state of emergency all over Gaza Strip hospitals."
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath told The Associated Press the attack was "a terrorist massacre and a terrorist war crime."
Continuing search
The strike came as Israeli troops stormed homes in the Palestinian refugee camp in an ongoing search for militants and illegal weapons, confining tens of thousands of residents to houses without electricity or water.
The invasion, launched Tuesday, knocked out power in the camp, home to an estimated 90,000 people, local Palestinian officials said. By today, they said, water service had been halted as well.
Twenty Palestinians -- the highest single-day death toll in more than two years -- were killed on the first day of the army's "Operation Rainbow" offensive. The victims included a 13-year-old boy and his 16-year-old sister.
International condemnation mounted against the operation, and the United States was asking Israel for "clarification," said Paul Patin, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.
President Bush has described the violence as "troubling" but said Israel has the right to defend itself from terrorism.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned the Gaza offensive as "unacceptable and wrong."
The United Nations and European Union demanded an end to the incursion, which Israeli security officials said would last at least a week.
The massive invasion -- the largest in the Gaza Strip in years -- came less than a week after Palestinian militants killed 13 soldiers, including seven in the Rafah area.
Differing accounts
Israel said it was targeting armed militants, but Palestinians said many of Tuesday's casualties were civilians.
Palestinians said the teenage brother and sister were killed by an Israeli sniper as they gathered laundry from their rooftop.
But the military said an initial investigation found no Israeli soldiers had fired in that area at the time of the shootings. The military said the two apparently were killed by a Palestinian bomb aimed at troops.
Early today, the army said it demolished the home of Ibrahim Ahmed, an Islamic Jihad militant it said was responsible for a shooting attack earlier this month that killed a pregnant Israeli woman and her four daughters near a Gaza settlement. Palestinian witnesses said at least three homes were demolished overnight.
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