Three Palestinians were killed early Tuesday when Israeli gunship helicopter shelled houses in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Palestinian sources said.
According to Wafa news agency, the helicopter fired three missiles at houses in Yobna Refugee Camp, south of Rafah city, killing three and wounding dozens.
It added that some 30 armoured vehicles accompanied by heavy bulldozers swept into the camp and launched a wide scale campaign of razing agricultural land.
Meanwhile, PA Minister of Health, Jawad al-Tibi, said that Israeli forces killed 222 Palestinian woman since the beginning of al-Aqsa Intifada, in September 2000.
In a statement released Monday, al-Tibi said that "(Palestinian) women and children have been targeted by the Israeli war machine, while sleeping in their homes."
He referred to the killing of Ne'ma Abu Sahloul, 45, who was shot dead Monday morning by Israeli soldiers at her home in the city of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
Regarding the suffer of Palestinian women at Israeli checkpoints, al-Tibi pointed out that 57 women were forced to get birth at the Israeli military checkpoints and 33 of the babies died.
"The Israeli arbitrary measures are a grave violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, United Nations resolutions and the conventions of the World Health Organization", al-Tibi added. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
