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<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/28281EF3-0276-4DED-B367-B74C0DAFDE89.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/28281EF3-0276-4DED-B367-B74C0DAFDE89.htm<br>
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</a>Israel kills women at mosque siege<br><br>
Friday 03 November 2006 1:11 AM GMT <br><br>
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<b>Two Palestinian women have been killed during a stand-off near a Gaza
mosque while they were trying to rescue about 60 Palestinian men besieged
inside.<br><br>
</b></font><font size=2>The dramatic events came on the third day of an
Israeli assault on the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the largest operation
Israel has conducted in the Gaza Strip in months.<br><br>
On Friday, about 200 Palestinian women marched towards the al-Nasir
mosque in the town of Beit Hanoun, which Israeli forces surrounded on
Thursday, in a attempt to rescue the men.<br><br>
Israeli forces opened fire towards the women and two of them were killed.
Six others were wounded.<br><br>
Um Muhammad, a woman in her 40s, said after the rescue attempt: "We
risked our lives to free our sons."<br><br>
With Friday's shootings, at least 22 Palestinians have been killed since
Israeli troops entered Beit Hanoun on Wednesday.<br><br>
<b>Escape<br><br>
</b>The Israeli army later confirmed that the Palestinian men had escaped
from the mosque.<br>
<br>
Shortly after they fled, the roof of the building, one of the oldest in
Gaza according to locals, collapsed, witnesses and the Israeli army said.
<br><br>
The minaret was left standing, but most of the building was reduced to
rubble.<br>
<br>
The Israeli military, which earlier demolished a wall of the mosque
compound and fired stun grenades and tear gas inside, said the collapse
was the result of gunfire and damage done during the 12-hour
siege.<br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2>Residents of the town of 30,000 people
said Beit Hanoun was now effectively under an Israeli army curfew after
infantry units backed by tanks stormed into the town on
Wednesday.<br><br>
</font>At a Hamas rally after nightfall on Thursday in Gaza City, Ismail
Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, called the Israeli offensive
"terrorism".<br><br>
<font face="Verdana" size=3><b>Deaths continue<br><br>
</b>Israel's offensive, called Operation Autumn Clouds, began on
Wednesday and is aimed partly at halting the barrage of rockets into
Israeli territory.<br><br>
Despite the Israeli assault, Palestinian fighters still managed to fire
six homemade missiles at the Israeli border town of Sderot on Thursday,
wounding at least two people, medical officials said.<br><br>
Overnight on Wednesday, eight Palestinians were killed in the Israeli
raids, including at least five fighters, four of whom were from Hamas'
armed wing, witnesses said.<br><br>
An Israeli soldier was also killed during the Beit Hanoun operation.
Hamas' armed wing said it had killed the Israeli soldier and wounded
several others.<br><br>
<br><br>
More than 280 Palestinians have been killed in the four-month-old
offensive, about half of them civilians, while three Israeli soldiers
have died.<br><br>
</font><b>Agencies<br><br>
</b>You can find this article at:<br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/28281EF3-0276-4DED-B367-B74C0DAFDE89.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/28281EF3-0276-4DED-B367-B74C0DAFDE89.htm</a>
<br><br>
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