A teenaged girl and boy were shot and wounded early Sunday by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza Strip City of Rafah.
Medics and witnesses reported that at least seven Israeli armored vehicles stormed at dawn the Block "O" neighborhood, just south of the Gaza Strip City of Rafah, under a barrage of heavy gunfire, wounding Musheera Abu Saleh, in her chest and hand, and Hammam Sulaiman Abu Samhadana, 19, in his face.
The medics confirmed the above-mentioned Palestinians were moderately wounded, as the Israeli fire caused grave damages to a number of houses and created a state of panic among the local inhabitants.
Meanwhile, at least one Palestinian civilian was injured during an earlier Israeli invasion in the Rafah refugee camp, witnesses and medics said.
In the meantime, Israel's Defense Minister Saul Mofaz told ministers Sunday, during the weekly cabinet meeting, that the Israeli army's activity in the Gaza Strip has not ended, despite a recent withdrawal from northern Gaza Strip after a 17-day operation aimed at "halting Qassam rocket fire on nearby Israeli towns".
On its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, late Saturday night organized massive rallies in Gaza City and the northern areas of the Strip to celebrate the victory the Palestinian resistance fighters scored over the Israeli troops, PIC reported.
The demonstrations launched from the city mosques immediately after the dusk prayers, and headed to Palestine Square in the city as Hamas sympathizers hoisted green banners and chanted slogans supporting fighters and condemning the Israeli aggression in the northern areas of the Strip.
During the event, Mushir Al-Masri, Hamas' spokesman in the Strip, delivered a speech in which he said the "Zionist craven troops" pulled out from the northern Gaza Strip by the virtue of the Qassam missile strikes that inflicted heavy losses upon the Israeli enemy.
He pointed out that the troops failed to thwart the Qassam missiles attacks on Israeli settlements or to even weaken the Palestinian resistance fighters.
The Hamas' spokesman pledged that Qassam missiles would be launched at the Israeli forces in the event they re-invaded the Strip.
For his part, Dr. Nizar Rayyan, one of Hamas’ prominent leaders in the Strip, also delivered a speech in which he praised the "Mujahideen" for their resistance. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
