10 Palestinians including children killed as tanks fire into protesters

By DONALD MacINTYRE in Rafah

At least 10 Palestinians, including three children, were killed yesterday when Israeli troops fired tank shells and helicopter missiles into a demonstration against their raid at the Rafah refugee camp.

Distraught relatives besieged the main Rafah hospital in search of children and other family members caught in the bloodshed as officials said that the injured included 13 in critical condition.

Palestinian witnesses said most of those killed were schoolchildren.

Voicing "deep sorrow over the loss of civilian lives", the Army said it did not deliberately target the rally but tank fire intended to repel protesters may have caused casualties. It said gunmen were among the demonstrators. The protesters denied this.

Israel last night defied international fury at the killing of nearly 40 Palestinians in Rafah to expand its bloodiest Gaza Strip raid in years. The United Nations Security Council, convened at the behest of Arabs incensed at what they branded a "war crime", passed a resolution urging an end to violence.

But Israel, whose forces stormed the Rafah camp after losing 13 soldiers in Gaza last week, looked undeterred.

Troops pushed into the Rafah districts of Brazil and As-Salam, along the border with Egypt, where the Army says it is hunting tunnels used by smugglers bringing weapons. An overnight helicopter strike near an olive grove killed at least three militants and wounded two others.

Medics said the remains of two other men were found, torn apart in what looked like another missile attack.

Israel's Defence Minister, Shaul Mofaz, insisted that the Army invasion of Rafah was crucial and would "continue for as long as it remains necessary ... "

Participants insisted the rally had been a peaceful protest to show solidarity with the residents trapped by the Army in the Tel Sultan section of the camp.

Dozens of blood-spattered protesters fled after the attack, which came as the head of the march reached ambulances at the edge of the camp.

The ambulances had been waiting for permission to ferry casualties from inside the camp. Instead, they began a frantic relay, scattering pedestrians as they raced along the Beach Road, ferrying those wounded and killed in the protest to the town's overwhelmed hospital.

Several thousand Palestinians had marched from Rafah to the nearby refugee camp, where Israeli troops have been searching for weapons and gunmen.

An Israeli helicopter flew overhead, firing several flares towards the marchers as machinegun fire was heard. Moments after the flares descended, a large explosion went off in the crowd.

Television footage showed smoke and debris flying, followed by Palestinians carrying the injured, including children with bloody faces, away from the blast.

"I could see the tank. First it fired a tank shell, it landed next to an electricity pole," said Hisham Ashour, 45, who was near the front of the crowd.

"We immediately started picking up the wounded who had collapsed to the ground. Many of them were kids."

At least four witnesses spoke of tank shells and three to four missiles landing in the crowd. Mahdi abu Hassan, 22, his shirt spattered with the blood of a friend, Abu Sheikh Eid, who had died in his arms, said he was in the fourth row of the march.

He added that the protest had been called by loudspeakers from the mosque.

"We wanted to bring out the injured. We wanted to bring back the dead. We were protesting that the people at Tel Sultan have no food and no water.

"We heard that a man had been beaten with sticks by the Israelis and we were protesting at the destruction of houses."

Dr Moawiya Hassanain, a Palestinian Health Ministry official, said at least 10 people were killed and 50 wounded, 36 of them critically. Four of the dead were children, aged from 9 to 14. The two others were 17 and 20. Most of the wounded were youngsters.

The injured were evacuated by ambulance, fire engine, private cars and donkey carts to the Rafah hospital. The hospital stairs and floors were drenched in blood as doctors shouted for help and blood donations. Hospital staff treated the wounded on the floor after running out of beds.

"Until this moment I can't imagine how we dealt with the cases - burn cases, cases of people whose insides were exposed, kids screaming and blood everywhere," said hospital director Dr Ali Mousa.

With the small hospital morgue overflowing, bodies were stored in a refrigerated vegetable storeroom nearby. Dozens queued at the hospital to give blood. "The least we can give is our blood; we have nothing to offer," said Sami Abu Irmana, 19.

- INDEPENDENT , REUTERS