KHAN YOUNIS, Palestine, October 23, 2004 (IPC + WAFA) - -
Israeli occupation forces continued its attacks against Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, as two civilians were pronounced dead yesterday, including one who was killed during heavy gunfire on a funeral procession.
IPC correspondent in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis said that Israeli forces stationed near the illegal settlement 'Neveh Dkalim' opened heavy gunfire at a congregation of civilians participating in a funeral procession of Eyad Al Serr, who was killed by Israeli forces earlier.
Medical sources at Nasser Hospital in the city told our correspondent that Ahmad Al Haddad, 21, died shortly after arriving to the hospital, due to critical wounds he sustained from the Israeli gunfire.
During the same funeral procession, two more civilians were wounded by the gunfire, one of whom his condition was described as critical.
Concurrently, another civilian died yesterday of wounds she sustained earlier from an Israeli shelling of Khan Younis, our correspondent added.
Najah Al Shawwa, 40, was pronounced dead yesterday by doctors, after being shot with a bullet in the back when Israeli forces shelled the Nemsawi hosuing project west of the city on October 4.
Elsewhere, eyewitnesses told WAFA news agency that Israeli forces razed vast areas of arable lands in the city on Friday.
The witnesses added that Israeli forces backed by two armored bulldozers invaded yesterday evening the Ureiba area in Rafah and bulldozed arable lands and greenhouses owned by Abu Khatla and Madhi families in the city.
Early this morning, Israeli forces established a military watchtower near the illegal settlement 'Nitzarim', south of Gaza City, and started firing at civilians' houses nearby.
Eyewitnesses and security sources confirmed that Israeli forces built a large cement watchtower, and mounted a gun turret on top of it, as tanks and armored vehicles shelled houses east of Gaza City, which are adjacent to the settlement.
Also, Israeli forces opened heavy gunfire at the coastal road this morning, creating fear and horror among the civilians driving on this main road. The firing resulted in the collision of two cars, and medical sources said the wounded were transferred to the hospital.
Citizens Arrested in West Bank In the West Bank, Israeli forces surrounded a mosque last night in a refugee camp in Nablus City, WAFA reported.
WAFA added that Israeli forces surrounded the Omar Bin Al Khattab mosque in Al Ein refugee camp, while civilians were performing the night prayers inside, and fired gas canisters inside.
The soldiers fired also stun grenades to scare the worshippers, before searching them and checking their ID cards.
Furthermore, Israeli troops raided a village in Bethlehem province and arrested three civilians, security sources said.
The sources mentioned that Israeli forces backed by Armored Personnel Carriers and military jeeps stormed the Ma'sara Village, south of Bethlehem, and conducted a house-to-house search campaign, during which Mohammed Bureijia, 24, Eyad Bureijia, 28, and his brother Nizar, 24, were arrested and taken to an undisclosed location.
In addition, Israeli forces arrested two more civilians in the village of Kufor Ne'ma, west of Ramallah and Al Bireh province, local sources told WAFA.
Israeli forces raided the village and surrounded a number of houses, before breaking into them and messing them up. The soldiers then arrested Fayeq Abu Adi, 34, and Khaled Ataya, 33, and took them to an undisclosed location.
Israeli troops have often terrorized the population of Kufor Ne'ma, as the troops stationed on top of the village's water reservoir often fire at the civilians and their children going to school, as well as preventing the villagers from making use of the lands around the reservoir.
The villagers have always considered the reservoir a blessing since it was built, but now they said it was a curse, since Israeli troops occupied and surrounded it with razor wire and cement blocks.