1-11-08, 9:58 am
Attacks Continues in Gaza as Bush Visits Israel
GAZA, Janauary 9.— The arrival Wednesday of President Bush to the Middle East was met by Palestinian protests and Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip which left three dead, reported Prensa Latina.
Some 20,000 demonstrators took to the streets of the Gaza Strip chanting slogans, burning US and Israeli flags and effigies of the US president, whom they called an assassin.
'Bush is not welcomed,' said a representative of the Hamas Movement of Islamic Resistance.
The speaker noted that since Bush’s arrival to Tel Aviv he has only expressed concern for the rights of the Israelis and made no reference to the thousands of Palestinian victims and the rights of their people.
Meanwhile, an Israeli aircraft flew over the autonomous Palestinian region firing several missiles against homes in the Beit Hanun Refugee Camp, killing at least three and wounding 11 others, reported security sources. Two of the fatal victims, one a woman, were identified as civilians.
Five persons were also injured in Israeli military land operations which intensified in recent days in both Gaza and the West Bank.
Thousands in Gaza Protest Bush’s Visit to Middle East
Israel imposes total siege of the West Bank
GAZA.— Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated Tuesday in Gaza against the visit of US President George Bush to the region which begins Wednesday. They also demanded a reopening of the border crossings closed since last June.
Protestors marched down the streets of Gaza under rainfall, symbolically carrying 30 empty coffins with the names of the Palestinians who have died due to Israel’s refusal to let them leave Gaza to receive medical attention.
'Come to the help of Gaza or condemn it to a slow death,' stated one of the banners. Another read, 'It’s US weapons that kill us and we are besieged by a US decision.'
Nearly 11,000 uniformed police, hundreds of agents in civilian clothes, as well as US Secret Service are deployed for operation 'Clear Skies,' the code name of Bush’s visit to Israel.
