Israeli forces have carried out further attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 32 Palestinians. Medical staff said four children aged nine to 16 were among the dead, as well as up to 15 Palestinian militants.

Five Israeli troops were lightly injured in clashes with gunmen inside Gaza, after tanks entered three areas in the north of the territory.

The raids came as Israel said it might launch a full-scale attack on Gaza in response to militant rocket attacks.

The BBC's Katya Adler in Jerusalem says Israel's leaders have been under pressure from some quarters to launch a ground invasion.

However, a recent opinion poll has indicated a majority of Israelis favour a truce with the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls Gaza.

Civilian deaths

Gaza's citizens were kept awake for another night by the sounds of Israeli military aircraft and missile strikes.

On one occasion, a house east of the Jabaliya refugee camp was struck - two children, a brother and sister, were killed.

Two more civilians, a father and his 19-year-old son, died in an airstrike outside their home.

Later, a 15-year-old girl and her 16-year-old sister were also killed.

There was also fighting in and around the camp between Israeli troops backed by tanks and Palestinian militants equipped with crude rockets and mortars.

Israel says its aim is to stop Palestinian militants firing rockets across the border.

But several more were launched in recent hours, three hitting the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon and causing light injuries to four people.

On Thursday a rocket fired by Hamas killed an Israeli student in the southern town of Sderot, the first such death in nine months.

Palestinian militant leaders say they are responding to Israeli attacks.

More than 60 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed in the violence since Wednesday.




from BBC




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some pictures :

My condolences to all lives lost

thank you Paranoid

here is other pictures :

the raid is still in action for the seconde day with 100 kills at least
(31 - feb - 2008 )

Israeli officials say that the military operation was designed to stop the frequent rocket fire from Gaza into towns in southern Israel. Since 2000, 13 Israelis have been killed by these rockets.

Personally, I don't agree with Palestinians firing rockets into Israel - but if you push people into the corner they are going to fight back
Ahmed Burai
Relative of victim In Gaza


Today, the streets played host to funeral processions. Speakers stacked on minivans blasted out verses from the Koran as hundreds of mourners trailed behind the vehicles.

One of the recent victims was a six-month-old baby boy killed when a roof collapsed on top of him.

A family relative, Ahmed Burai, 27, said the baby's mother found out her son was dead when she heard it announced on the radio.

He accused Israel of acting "hysterically" over the rocket attacks from Gaza and said that its military operation could prove counterproductive.

"They are launching all these attacks that are killing civilians," said Mr Burai. "Personally, I don't agree with Palestinians firing rockets into Israel.

"But if you push people into the corner they are going to fight back."

For many Gazans, the violence is the latest example of Israeli punishment for their support of Hamas.

The Islamic movement won the parliamentary elections in 2006, after which the Palestinian Authority was subjected to an economic embargo by the international community because of Hamas' refusal to recognise Israel.

It was such a quiet evening; my kids were sleeping after a long day at school, I’d finished my house work and was just thinking it was time to relax. It was almost eight o’clock when I went into the kitchen to prepare a cup of coffee. Suddenly, I heard a huge explosion and the sound of broken glass. I was terrified. I rushed into the kids’ bedroom to see if they were OK. Then I checked the other rooms, looking for the broken glass. I didn’t find any. Later, I learnt that most of the houses near ours had had their windows shattered by the force of the explosion. We were lucky.

After the Dimona suicide bombing, Israel said it would increase military action in Gaza and I knew that the situation would get worse, yet I would never have imagined it would be so close: just a few metres away from my home. Maybe it’s a protective mechanism when we convince ourselves that we’re safe in our homes. I was stunned. The sound of the ambulance sirens brought me straight back to the ugly reality that we live in Gaza, where nowhere is safe and where Israel controls the air, sea and land.

It was such a scary moment. It made me wonder how the Israelis in Sderot feel when a Qassam rocket hits them. Human nature is the same everywhere, no matter who you are: all humans love life. I know, though, that when a missile from an F-16 hits a target near you, everything shakes with the impact and the noise, not only the buildings and the walls, but you yourself are shaken to the core. You realize that there is no place to hide, no place to run, no shelters, nothing.

It’s amazing how we Palestinians in Gaza are able to cope with everything we face each day: the growing fear that we’ll accidentally be the target of an Israeli air strike because we happen to be in the same street as a "wanted person"; the constant electricity cuts; the lack of essential equipment and medication; the border closures that prevent people from leaving Gaza for urgent medical treatment. Living in this way, I honestly wonder if we adults will be able to raise a normal, healthy younger generation. Do we still have the power to have a positive impact on our children, their mentality, and their way of judging events?









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source : UNRWA official website , and here is the link

Necro.

some disturbing images there. but it doesn't do just to feel sorry for people, does it?
anyhow, theres not much anyone else can do to help this. i read in some newspaper a few weeks ago about corruption regarding money that people donate to charity. allegedly, it doesn't go where you expect it to.

Thats sad.

Israeli will always come out victorious in the end. Always.

If Palestinians fight for the freedom then they are terrorists. And just for that Israeli cowards blast the entire Palestine. Please note this thing that Palestinians never fire on the civilian Jews, they always fire on the Jewish Army. then why Jewish Army is firing on the civil Palestinians???????

i think that it is just tragic that this many people need to die over such a small area of land. even if someone comes out victorious, there will still be attacks with deaths like these