At least eight Palestinians were killed and several others were wounded by Israeli tank fire in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya on Tuesday morning. The shellS hit some school children, medical sources reported. Locals told WAFA that an Israeli tank launched three shells against a group of farmers in a strawberry field in Fad'ous area of the city, killing eight people, and wounding scores, including children.
Medics in the city confirmed that the eight bodies turned into burned pieces. "We collected the bodies, three of them were teenagers, in a strawberry farm. The bodies were blown to pieces by a tank shell," medics at Kamal Odwan hospital said.
Some of the victims were identified as three cousins, Hani Ghaban, Mohammed Ghaban, Rajeh Ghaban and Rajeh Kaseih. Several pupils and employees were wounded.
"We saw heads without bodies and body parts scattered everywhere. It is truly a slaughterhouse," said one of the witnesses to a local radio station in Gaza.
Earlier, Palestinian mortar fire wounded at least two Israelis the Erez industrial zone between Israel and Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.
Also Tuesday, Palestinians fired two Qassam rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot, leaving at least four people in a state of shock, Israel Radio said.
Meanwhile, leading Palestinian chairmanship candidate Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) on Tuesday condemned the Israeli attack.
Abbas spoke to thousands of supporters after the Beit Lahiya tank shelling earlier in the day. "We came to you today, while we are praying for the souls of the martyrs who were killed today by the shells of the Zionist enemy in Beit Lahiya," Abbas said during a campaign stop in the town of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
