GAZA: AT LEAST THREE PEOPLE ARE KILLED AFTER AN EXPLOSION RIPS THROUGH A HOUSE ON OUTSKIRTS OF GAZA CITY

Record ID: 860882

  • Title: GAZA: AT LEAST THREE PEOPLE ARE KILLED AFTER AN EXPLOSION RIPS THROUGH A HOUSE ON OUTSKIRTS OF GAZA CITY
  • Date: 28th January 2003
  • Summary: (W3) GAZA CITY, GAZA (JANUARY 28, 2003) (REUTERS) VARIOUS DAMAGED BUILDING (6 SHOTS) (W1) GAZA CITY, GAZA (JANUARY 28, 2003) (REUTERS) (NIGHTSHOTS) SV OF ABDUL-AZIZ RANTISI, HAMAS POLITICAL LEADER, WALKING WITH BODYGUARDS NEAR THE SITE OF EXPLOSION SCU: (SOUNDBITE)(English) ABDUL-AZIZ RANTISI, HAMAS POLITICAL LEADER, SAYING: "Surely, according to our investigations, we found that Sharon targeted a house in Gaza and he killed two kids up till now, some of them due to shrapnel. Sharon is responsible about this new crime, and they will pay the price of their crimes. I think that Sharon targeted our kids to take them, take their blood as a paper for elections tomorrow." / ABDUL-AZIZ RANTISI, HAMAS POLITICAL LEADER, LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 12th February 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: GAZA CITY, GAZA
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA5IUXXFUG0QQ0XFUC6D6L12HEE
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: An explosion has ripped through a house on the outskirts of Gaza City, killing at least three people, witnesses and medics said. It's believed the property belonged to a member of the militant Islamic group Hamas.
    Palestinian security officials blamed the blast on missiles fired from Israeli helicopter gunships, a method used to target Palestinian militants waging a 28-month-old uprising for statehood.
    But Israeli security sources said on Tuesday (January 28) they knew of no such strike.
    At least nine other people were injured by the blast that tore through a two-storey house and a few neighbouring buildings in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, hospital officials said. Two of the dead were teenage sons of the house's owner.
    According to initial accounts, the blast was caused by an Israeli missile which struck while a military helicopter hovered overhead. But other witnesses said later that it was not clear what set off the explosion.
    Hamas political leader Abdul-Aziz Rantisi, speaking near the site of the explosion, warned of retaliation.
    "Surely, according to our investigations, we found that Sharon targeted a house in Gaza and he killed two kids up till now, some of them due to shrapnels. Sharon is responsible about this new crime, and they will pay the price of their crimes. I think that Sharon targeted our kids to take them, take their blood as a paper for elections tomorrow," Rantisi said.
    No comments were available from Israel.
    Hamas has carried out dozens of suicide attacks in Israel, which holds a general election on Tuesday (January 28), and fired rockets into an Israeli town near Gaza the day before the army raid.
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