Incidents

IDF rounds up Hamas prisoners At least one Palestinian has been killed after a UN relief agency convoy came under fire from Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, officials say. The attack took place on Thursday as the lorries travelled to the Erez crossing to pick up supplies that were to have been allowed in during a three-hour ceasefire. Thursday's pause in the 13-day Israeli offensive to allow humanitarian aid into the strip was scheduled to last from 1pm (11:00 GMT) to 4pm (14:00 GMT). The Israeli military said that it was checking reports of the incident. John Ging, the head of the UN relief agency in Gaza, said that the casualties were Palestinian civilian contractors contracted to bring supplies from the crossing points. "They were co-ordinating their movements with the Israelis, as they always do, only to find themselves being fired at from the ground troops," he told Al Jazeera. "It has resulted tragically in the death of one and the injury of two others." Wednesday's three-hour ceasefire allowed beleaguered Gazans and aid workers to recover dead bodies, treat the wounded, and gather much-needed supplies in and around Gaza City. Earlier on Thursday, thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in the southern Gaza Strip as Israeli forces bombarded Rafah after dropping leaflets to warn local residents about an impending blitz. Witnesses said that homes, suspected smuggling tunnels and a mosque were hit in the area along the Egyptian border early on Thursday. The leaflets warned that that the Israeli military "will bomb the area due to its use by terrorists to [dig] tunnels and to stock up" on weapons. Hundreds of tunnels are believed to cross under the Egyptian border around Rafah allowing Palestinians to smuggle in basic supplies, in short supply due to the Israeli blockade, and weapons. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the military dropped the flyers "as in the past to avoid civilian casualties". At least 700 Palestinians, including 219 children, have died in Gaza since Israel began its assault on December 27. More than 3,080 people have also been wounded. Eight Israeli soldiers and three civilians have died in the same period. Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Gaza City, said the flyers would have frightened the civilian population of southern Gaza. "Israel has cut the northern part of Gaza from the southern part. Those in the southern part wouldn't be able to go to the north seeking refuge and vice versa," he said. Mohyeldin said there was also another night of heavy bombardment in the north around Gaza City. "Most of the targets hit throughout the northern part of the territory included mosques and homes that have been previously struck on the previous days of this conflict. Some of the government buildings and police stations that were nearly destroyed are now completely levelled," he said. The AFP news agency quoted witnesses as saying that dozens of Israeli tanks had entered southern Gaza and were heading towards Rafah. Fierce fighting was also reported between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers around Khan Yunis. It was unclear if the latest offensive was the "third stage" of the offensive approved by the Israeli security cabinet on Wednesday. A senior Israeli defence official said a meeting chaired by Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, had "approved continuing the ground offensive, including a third stage that would broaden it by pushing deeper into populated areas". The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday accused the Israeli military of not helping wounded Palestinians in an incident in Gaza City that it described as "shocking". ICRC and Palestinian Red Crescent workers said in a statement that several wounded Palestinians and four weakened children were found alongside 12 dead bodies in houses hit by shelling in Zaytun, less than 100 metres from Israeli positions. "The ICRC believes that in this instance the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded," it said. The Red Cross team, including four ambulances, had only gained safe passage from Israeli army to access the neighbourhood on January 7 after trying for four days, the ICRC said. Meanwhile, Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank shot dead a Palestinian in a confrontation at a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem, Israeli radio reported.

Author: ArchivesAlgeriennes
Keywords: Gaza lebanon liban hizballah nasrallah israel army jihad CNN paris BBC war FOX New York air missile london obama us ali germany america f-16 bush maroc terrorism israeli india england IDF Palestine iran sky usa Hamas islam jews muslims iraq algerie australia tv France sarkozy china pakistan russia malysia indonisia allah egypt حسن نصرالله حزب الله لبنان الجزائر فلسطين غزة إسرائيل حماس إسلام جهاد العراق مصر تونس المغرب
Added: January 8, 2009

A WIND turbine stood wrecked yesterday with one of its giant 65ft blades torn off — after it was hit by a UFO. Locals were woken by the 4am smash after strange lights were spotted streaking towards the 290ft-tall generator on a wind farm. Baffled power chiefs said of the smash in Conisholme, Lincs: We have a team investigating. There was no trace of the missing blade. A UFO expert said: We are very excited. A woman motorist told how she saw a UFO zoom towards the wind farm and strike the 290ft turbine. Dorothy Willows — who lives half a mile from the scene of the hit-and-run — was in her car when strange lights loomed in the evening sky. She was among dozens who spotted the mysterious flashing orangey-yellow spheres over Lincolnshire — where the turbine was left wrecked. Dorothy, of Louth, said: The lights were moving across the sky towards the wind farm. Then I saw a low flying object. It was skimming across the sky towards the turbines. Hours later there was an almighty smash. Dorothy said: My husband Stephen was woken at 4am by the bang. Afterwards there was no trace of one of the turbines three huge 65ft blades — ripped off in the collision. Another was left twisted and useless. Other locals told how the lights looked like balls of flames. Lesley Whittingham, 71, even managed to photograph it — and said: It looked like a giant explosion in the air. John Harrison, another witness, described how he looked out of his landing window and saw a massive ball of light with tentacles going right down to the ground over the wind farm. He said: It was huge. With the tentacles it looked just like an octopus. The object that struck the turbine at Conisholme near Louth on Sunday dodged others surrounding it — and last night experts had no explanation for what it was. There were NO reports of any aircraft collisions. Council health and safety officials said even the strongest gale was unlikely to be responsible. The damage was described by the Health and Safety Executive as a unique incident. Wind farm company Ecotricity admitted: We dont know what caused the problem. We are investigating. UFO expert Russ Kellett, of Flying Saucer Review, told how dozens of reports of mystery objects poured in before the crash. He said: Balls of light were seen in the sky and the MoD has no explanation. We are very, very excited about this. Last night the incident was the talk of the internet. It was dubbed the Octopus UFO because of the tentacles and how the lights appeared joined in formation. The MoD said of the latest scare: Unless there is evidence of a potential threat, there is no attempt to identify the nature of each sighting. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/ufos/article2108149.ece

Author: uruk
Keywords: UFO behind wind turbine mangling nwo new world order
Added: January 8, 2009

ITN (UK) - (Independent Television News) Thursday 8 Janvier 2009 Gaza doctor: We need more surgeons --- ITN (UK) 18 mins ago Israel has launched shells into Lebanon in response to rockets fired into its territory. A military spokesman said Israel aimed "a pinpoint response at the source of fire" in Lebanon. An Israeli security source said Israel had fired five artillery shells. Four rockets fired from Lebanon hit the Israeli resort town of Nahariya and three other locations, wounding two people, police and medics said. It is believed the attack is linked to Israel's 13-day-old offensive against Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip. It is not clear whether Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas - against whom Israel fought a war in 2006 - or Palestinians fired the rockets. Israeli forces have been on high alert in the north fearing that Hezbollah could send rocket salvoes into northern Israel as they did in the 2006 conflict and lend support to Hamas and the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million inhabitants. Meanwhile, in Gaza City, relief workers found four starving children sitting next to their dead mothers and other corpses in a house bombed by Israel, the International Committee of the Red Cross has said. The ICRC said: "They were too weak to stand up on their own. One man was also found alive, too weak to stand up. In all there were at least 12 corpses lying on mattresses." The body has accused Israel of delaying ambulance access to the hit area and demanded it grant safe access for Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances to return to evacuate more wounded. Pierre Wettach, ICRC chief for Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, said: "This is a shocking incident. The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestinian Red Crescent to assist the wounded." In another house, the team found 15 survivors of Israeli shelling including several wounded, the ICRC said. Three corpses were found in another home. Israeli soldiers posted 80m away ordered the rescue team to leave the area, which they refused to do. An Israeli offensive launched in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on December 27 has drawn increasing international criticism over mounting civilian casualties. At least 700 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 200 children and 90 women.

Author: Verseautoujours
Keywords: GAZA PALESTINE
Added: January 8, 2009

Several rockets fired from Lebanon have hit northern Israel, Israeli police say. At least three rockets landed in the town of Nahariya, about 8km south of the Lebanese border, on Thursday causing slight injuries. The attack was followed by reports of a second missile strike, but officials later said it was a false alarm. The Israeli military fired mortars into southern Lebanon in response to the initial attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera's correspondent in southern Israel, said analysts were suggesting that the rocket attack could have been carried out by Palestinians in southern Lebanon. She said the firing of rockets from Lebanon "could mean the opening of a second front" in the war on Gaza which has left at least 700 Palestinians dead. Military alert The Israeli military has been on alert in the north since it intensified the Gaza offensive, which it says is aimed at stopping rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip. "We took into account there would be an attempt by Palestinian groups to express solidarity," Shalom Simchon, an Israeli cabinet minister, said. Lebanon is home to more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees, according to UN figures. Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from northern Israel, said one of the rockets hit a retirement home. "The residents of the home are very distressed by what has happened," he said. "People here haven't got to the stage they have in the south where many people have left their homes." Hamas denial The Palestinian Hamas group, which has been targeted by the ongoing Israeli aerial and ground assault on Gaza, denied it carried out the attack from southern Lebanon. "Hamas is pursuing its combat inside Palestine and our principle is not to use any other Arab soil to respond to the occupation," Raafat Morra, a Hamas spokesman, told the AFP news agency. Tarek Mitri, Lebanon's information minister, said the Hezbollah movement, which fought a war with Israel in 2006, had made it clear it was not behind the rocket attack. "Hezbollah has assured us that they remain committed to stability and Resolution 1701 and that is a euphemism for saying they are not involved," he said, referring the UN Security Council resolution that ended the conflict. The last time Katyushas were fired from Lebanon was in June 2007. Hezbollah denied responsibility and Israel blamed an unnamed Palestinian group. Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera it was "taking immediate measures to identify the perpetrators of the attack". "Additional troops have been deployed on the ground and patrols have been intensified across all our areas of operation to prevent any further incidents," he said. Conflict warning On Wednesday, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, warned that "all possibilities" were open against Israel as he gave a speech condemning Israel's offensive in Gaza and voicing support for Hamas. About 1,200 mostly Lebanese civilians were killed as the Shia Muslim movement fought the Israeli military. Addressing tens of thousands of supporters via video link at his stronghold in Beirut's suburbs, Nasrallah said: "I say to [Ehud] Olmert [Israel's prime minister], the loser, the vanquished in Lebanon that 'you cannot overcome Hamas or Hezbollah'." The comments marked the first time he has spoken so openly on the possibility of a renewed conflict with Israel since the war in Gaza began on December 27. Nasrallah warned that the 2006 conflict would be "but a walk in the park" compared to what awaits Israel if it launches a new offensive on Lebanon. "We have to act as though all possibilities are real and open [against Israel] and we must always be ready for any eventuality. "We are ready to sacrifice our souls, our brothers and sisters, our children, our loved ones for what we believe in."

Author: ArchivesAlgeriennes
Keywords: Gaza lebanon liban hizballah nasrallah israel army jihad CNN paris BBC war FOX New York air missile london obama us ali germany america f-16 bush maroc terrorism israeli india england IDF Palestine iran sky usa Hamas islam jews muslims iraq algerie australia tv France sarkozy china pakistan russia malysia indonisia allah egypt حسن نصرالله حزب الله لبنان الجزائر فلسطين غزة إسرائيل حماس إسلام جهاد العراق مصر تونس المغرب
Added: January 8, 2009

A female passenger sustained minor injuries in a train derailment at Homebush which is causing delays tonight for peak-hour commuters. The one carriage derailment involving the front wheels of the train - which RailCorp said occurred at low speed - was travelling westbound at Platform 6 at Homebush station at about 4.40pm when the incident occurred. The delay is affecting passengers travelling on the inner-west, Bankstown, south and western train lines. The NSW Ambulance Service said the female passenger suffered an injured wrist in the incident. RailCorp said that most of the passengers were in carriages unaffected by the derailment and were able to get off the train safely and join other services passing through Homebush. Trains were being diverted around the halted train, although delays of up to 20 minutes were being experienced across the network. A RailCorp spokesman said it was too early to speculate on the cause of the accident. "Investigations are going on at the moment and it's too early to speculate what did and what didn't happen,'' he said. "We have crews on site investigating what occurred and until that's done we can't give a response on what has actually occurred. As far as I'm aware there were no lives in danger.'' From SMH

Author: doctornickau
Keywords: cityrail railcorp railway derailment
Added: January 8, 2009