posted
Israeli forces have shelled a hospital and UN compound as they continue to pound Gaza City while pushing deeper into densely-populated neighbourhoods.
Thousands of fear-stricken Gazans fled the advancing Israeli trooops on Thursday, but observers said there was nowhere safe for them to take refuge in the territory that is under relentless Israeli attack.
Officials said that a building of the UN relief agency in Gaza had been hit by Israeli shells and set ablaze.
"They are phosphorus fires so they are extremely difficult to put out because if you put water on it, it will just generate toxic fumes and do nothing to stop the burning," John Ging, the director of UN relief operations, said.
"This is going to burn down the entire warehouse ... thousands and thousands of tonnes of food, medical supplies and other emergency assistance are there."
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he was "outraged" by the attack on the UN compound and demanded an explanation as he met Israeli officials in Tel Aviv.
Intense shelling
About 500 people were inside the hospital in Tal al-Hawa when it came under attack. Many had taken shelter in the hope of escaping the onslaught.
"The last hit was on the Red Crescent's operations building and destroyed the pharmacy. There's a hole in the roof and a fire is still burning," Sharon Locke, a hospital volunteer, told Al Jazeera.
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A building housing a number of international media organisations and several housing blocks were also reportedly hit on Thursday.
Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Gaza City, said that the Israeli shelling was the closest to the centre of the city that it had been during the Israeli offensive.
"There have, no doubt, been a series of air strikes that have destroyed so many of the buildings here in the heart of Gaza City, but this is the first time we have seen this kind of shelling," he said.
"We are getting some very horrific accounts from people trapped in buildings unable to leave."
Mays al-Khatib, a Gaza resident, was speaking to Al Jazeera on the telephone when her building came under attack.
"The shelling is continuous since last night, we are here in this place, we are around 500 families here under bombardment," she was narrating, when the telephone went dead.
Al Jazeera sources said she survived, though her building collapsed.
Israel also hit smuggling tunnels from Egypt into the southern Rafah area of Gaza.
"They used bombs that went deep into the tunnels and shook the whole Rafah refugee camp. The land trembled beneath our feet," Bassam Abdallah, a local Palestinian cameraman, said.
One of Israel's stated objectives is to stop the smuggling of weapons across the border to Palestinian fighters.
The tunnels are also used to bring in basic supplies for the territory which has been suffering under an Israeli blockade.
At least 1,054 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its assault on the Gaza Strip on December 27, medics said.
More than 4,800 people have been injured in the violence.
'Unbearable' toll
Ban told a news conference in Tel Aviv that the death toll was "unbearable".
"The time has come for the violence to stop and for us to change fundamentally the dynamics in Gaza"
Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general
"The time has come for the violence to stop and for us to change fundamentally the dynamics in Gaza and to pursue again the peace talks for a two-state solution which is the only road for lasting security for Israel," he said.
Thirteen Israelis have been killed in the conflict, including three civilians.
However, the two sides appeared to be inching closer towards a ceasefire deal on Thursday.
Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli envoy, was expected to meet Egyptian mediators in Cairo after a Hamas delegation gave its view on the proposed agreement.
Meanwhile, a Greek-flagged vessel trying to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip with medical aid for the Palestinians was turned back to Cyprus by an Israeli naval vessel.
Huwaida Arraf, an organiser with the US-based Free Gaza Movement, said that the boat was intercepted about 100 miles northeast of Gaza.
"They got very close and they threatened that if we continued they would open fire on us," she told the Reuters news agency.
"They surrounded us with about four warships making it very difficult to navigate. They said they would use all means to keep us out of Gaza."
Posts: 3291 | From: I DO believe in Karma! | Registered: Apr 2002
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the military fired artillery shells at the U.N. compound after Hamas militants opened fire from the location. Three people were wounded.
"It is absolutely true that we were attacked from that place, but the consequences are very sad and we apologize for it," he said. "I don't think it should have happened and I'm very sorry."
A senior Israeli military officer had also said Israeli troops shelled the compound after coming under fire from Palestinian militants there — an account dismissed by a U.N. official there at the time as "nonsense."
Zionist LIES need to be EXPOSED! Burn in hell Olmert.
Posts: 3291 | From: I DO believe in Karma! | Registered: Apr 2002
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Oh please Laura. We might have been born at night but not last night. Hamas has been killing innocent people for years, it is their stock and trade. You are going to have to get over it. Israel is going to brutalize these butchers once and for all. urban warfare is always going to lead to civilian deaths. If Hamas had been taking care of their own people instead of shooting missiles into Israel they would not be in this fix. We all have choices to make and they are paying the price for stupid choices.
Posts: 2069 | From: Texas | Registered: Sep 2008
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quote:Originally posted by TheAmericanPatriot: Oh please Laura. We might have been born at night but not last night. Hamas has been killing innocent people for years, it is their stock and trade. You are going to have to get over it. Israel is going to brutalize these butchers once and for all. urban warfare is always going to lead to civilian deaths. If Hamas had been taking care of their own people instead of shooting missiles into Israel they would not be in this fix. We all have choices to make and they are paying the price for stupid choices.
Who's this "we" you're talking about. From here it looks like you're talking to yourself.
Posts: 1808 | From: USA | Registered: Aug 2006
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Nobody cares about your personal insults Laura. the fact is the Palestinians are paying a horrible price for their bad choices. After this they may be a bit more prudent, at least those who are still alive.
Posts: 2069 | From: Texas | Registered: Sep 2008
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You never address the TOPIC of the thread SAP, why? The topic is the shelling of a UN Compound and Hospital, and the lies that are being told about it. Understand?
Actually I am wondering WHAT you are doing on this forum at all? What is your connection to Egypt.
Posts: 3291 | From: I DO believe in Karma! | Registered: Apr 2002
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Laura, You know full well that in a major urban campaign those kinds of things happen. I did not hear your out rage at the Hamas missiles going into Israel???? You are just nit picking and we all know it.
Posts: 2069 | From: Texas | Registered: Sep 2008
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The "we" he speaks of Doodle, are the Political Whores of the US. The whores who will say and do anything to be in politics. The War Criminal Bush who LIED to the US public and sent troops to Iraq. Who let US and Iraqi men and women DIE for his LIES. The Criminal who has bilked the US public out of Billions of dollars to support his LIES.
SAP isn't even worthy of a slap in the face with a shoe. PTOOH!
Posts: 3291 | From: I DO believe in Karma! | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by TheAmericanPatriot: Laura, You know full well that in a major urban campaign those kinds of things happen. I did not hear your out rage at the Hamas missiles going into Israel???? You are just nit picking and we all know it.
you continue to surprise me with your dumb ass replies in each thread. have YOU ever sat down and asked your self why hamas is shooting missles at israel in the first place? let me know when you figure it out which i doubt you will because you have a mind set of a jelly fish. some morons in this world i swear. do you even have al jazeera or do you just watch CNN and come on here babbling all you nonsense zionist brainwashed bullcrap? go ahead and reply with some naive stupid comment. i dont think your worth 1 second of my life to argue with you over the internet. and like laura said, WTF are you doing on this forum? what do u have to do with egypt? certainly nothing since little 3 year old kids in egypt have more brain than you
Posts: 506 | From: Some where on the east coast | Registered: Jan 2008
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Ehud Olmert apparently apologized to the UN immediately after the incident, but now the IDF says Hamas was using the compound as a firing station.
MSNBC reports that the IDF came under fire with anti-tank weapons and machine guns from inside the UN compound.Posts: 3773 | From: unfinished thought | Registered: Nov 2008
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