MAAN NEWS AGENCY
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Israeli tanks kill seven Palestinians,
including mother and four young children, in Beit Hanoun
Date: 28 / 04 / 2008 Time: 09:19
Gaza – Ma'an – Seven Palestinians were killed, including a
mother and her four young children, and at least seven others were injured
when Israeli tanks shelled a residential houses in the town of Beit Hanoun in
the northern Gaza Strip on Monday morning, witnesses and medics said.
Palestinian medics identified the mother, Khadra Abu Ma'tuq, and herchildren
Ahmad Abu Ma'tuq, three-year-old Hana Abu Ma'tuq, four-year-old Salih Abu
Ma'tuq, and six-year-old Rudayna Abu Ma'tuq, medics reported.
A student, 17-year-old Ayyub Atallah, was killed on his way to school. His
friend Mu'tasim Sweilim was injured.
The sixth Palestinian killed was a member of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad,
the Al-Quds Brigades, named Ibrahim Al-Hjuj. He was also identified by medical
sources.
Muawiya Hassanain, the Gaza-based director of ambulance and emergency services
in the Palestinian Health Ministry, confirmed that the deaths took place after
Israeli forces fired on the Abu Ma'tuq family home in Beit Hanoun.
Witnesses reported that Israeli tanks and bulldozers invaded Beit Hanoun early
on Monday morning and began firing on residential houses.
On Sunday night Israeli forces raided the town of Deir Al-Balah, in the
central Gaza Strip, seized 40 Palestinians, and used bulldozers to destroy
agricultural lands, witnesses said. The Israeli forces withdrew at midnight.
***Updated at 10:04 Bethlehem time