http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006 /November/middleeast_November42.xml <http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/200 6/November/middleeast_November42.xml§ion=middleeast> §ion=middleeast
Women act as human shields to free gunmen from Gaza mosque (AFP) 3 November 2006 BEIT HANUN, Gaza Strip - Palestinian mothers and wives braved Israeli helicopter gunships on Friday to rescue 15 fighters besieged in a northern Gaza mosque, using their heavily veiled bodies as human shields. "We risked our lives to free our sons," said Um Mohammed, a woman in her 40s, after the daring rescue that followed protests against a bloody Israeli operation in the northern Gaza Strip that has killed 24 Palestinians. Militants from various armed groups, including Hamas, had been besieged in the al-Nasr mosque since Thursday, seeking protection from Operation Autumn Clouds, one of the biggest Israeli incursions in Gaza for the past four months. Braving gunfire and tanks, around 400 women and other demonstrators gathered to protest against the Israelis at one of the entrances to the town. Three of them, one a woman, were killed and another 25 people were wounded, medics said. Around 200 women then left the main protest to march on and enter the mosque around 700 metres (yards) away to collect the gunmen, before walking out again, cloaking the fighters in the middle of their heavily veiled ranks. None of the gunmen could be seen amid the dozens of women, who were dressed for the most part from head to toe in black in the religiously conservative Gaza Strip. Throughout the rescue bid, Israeli helicopter gunships opened fire -- not specifically at the women, but intending to scare them and separate their ranks, but without success. Two women were wounded, medics said. A source in Hamas confirmed that its armed wing had orchestrated what he called a "complex security operation" to secure the release of the besieged fighters. The women and fighters they were protecting ran as far as Izbat Beit Hanun, an area northwest of the town not being occupied by Israeli army. "Hundreds of us entered the mosque and surrounded the resistance fighters to protect them," said one of the women, 21-year-old Nidaa al-Radih. One rescued fighter was triumphant. "We are free, we are free!" he shouted before running off to safety. Elderly Palestinians and children are still holed up inside the mosque, where the compound wall and entrance gate have been partially destroyed by Israeli shellfire and bulldozers, witnesses said. An army spokeswoman said that large demonstrations of around 3,000 people, mostly women, had been orchestrated by Hamas in order to provide cover for gunmen wanting to escape from the mosque. "There are a number of incidents in which the forces identified armed gunmen and fired at armed gunmen. We are checking claims that women were hit in these demonstrations. At the moment we can't confirm anything," she said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
