Israel Kills 26 Palestinians, Including 22 Protestors

Several children with their heads covered in blood were being rushed away by their relatives, friends and strangers.

Rafah residents were asking a freeze to Israeli campaign of house demolitions, which according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), has already left more than 1,000 Rafah residents homeless since late last week.

Four other Palestinians were also killed earlier Wednesday in Tal Al-Sultan, Palestinian source said.

Saber Abu Libdeh, 13, was gunned down, while his two brothers were wounded by Israeli fire, they added.

Another Palestinian was shot in the head after Israeli troops ordered all males over the age of 16 to come out of their homes with their hands in the air, witnesses told AFP.

Two other men were shot dead moments earlier, including one who was carrying a white flag as left his building to obey the Israeli order, witnesses added.

The fatalities take to 46 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces in Rafah since the small hours of Tuesday, May 18.

Since the outbreak of the Intifadah in September 2000, UNRWA statistics show more than 11,000 people have been made homeless by Israeli house demolitions in the southern Gaza Strip city.

The Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday, May 16, rejected an appeal by Palestinians against the demolitions.

The Palestinian leadership has accused the Israelis of conducting a “war of extermination” in Rafah while the U.N. Security Council is considering its response to events.

Amnesty International dismissed the demolitions as “war crimes” and “collective punishment”.

No Medical Access

According to witnesses in Tal Al-Sultan, which has been virtually sealed off from the rest of Rafah, most of the phone lines are down, while the water and electricity networks have been destroyed.

“The Israeli army destroyed the generator for the sewage pumping station and waste is now spilling into the streets. The health situation is horrible,” said resident Hassan Abu Yusef.

The Palestinian emergency services accused the Israeli army of blocking ambulances in northern Gaza from reaching Rafah.

“This is an absolute disaster. We sent ambulances to support Rafah but the Israelis are preventing them from reaching the place,” said Mohammed Salama, who is head of emergencies at the Palestinian health ministry.

The Physicians for Human Rights-Israel group confirmed that ambulances were unable to move south of the town of Khan Yunis to provide assistance to medics working in Rafah.

Yossi Beilin, one of the chief architects of the Oslo peace accords and the leader of Israel’s left-wing Yahad party, said the operation was doomed to failure.

“There is no situation in the world in which the army will be able to resolve the conflict between us and the Palestinians, not from a military point of view and not from a political point of view,” he said.

The new Rafah fatalities bring the overall toll since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation to 4,053, including 3,077 Palestinians and 918 Israelis.