Israeli airstrikes target Gaza, massive bomb hits central Gaza City injuring 17, 3 of them children

Photo by Tilde de Wandel

ISM Press Release - At around 11:30pm last night (Friday 30 July 2010), ‘The Arafat Compound’ Police College in central Gaza City was bombed by Israeli F-16s, in the area of ‘Al Montada’ injuring seventeen people, three of them seriously. Three children were also among the injured.

Those first at the scene described building debris scattered everywhere and burned out cars still parked on the street. One man had severe injuries to the eyes and head as a result of being hit by shrapnel from the bomb.

The enormous impact of the bomb was felt by ISM volunteers sitting in a nearby café.

Adie Mormech, a British volunteer with ISM said: “The blast caused buildings far from the epicenter of the explosion to shake and windows were smashed. When we arrived at Shifa hospital the scene was chaos. Family members were not allowed inside to visit while the patients were being treated. Intermittently more of the injured arrived amidst a mass of waiting media.

“Others arrived at the hospital with psychological trauma caused by the enormous impact of the bomb - some were confused to the extent that they couldn’t describe whether they had an injury or not.”

One Gazan resident described the power of the bomb as a rocket weighing more than a ton, the likes of which had not been seen frequently since the horrific three week bombardment over the New Year of 2009, known as Operation Cast Lead.

For many in Gaza, last night’s attack was a traumatic reminder of the onslaught during Operation Cast Lead when three hundred F-16 bomb attacks took place during the first 2 minutes of the campaign. The operations terrorized the entire population of the Gaza Strip and killed over 1400 people, including over 400 children.

Israel’s attack late Friday night followed a rocket that landed in Askelon, Southern Israel. that caused no injuries, and is suspected to have been fired by a small militant faction in Gaza.

As well as reports of other bombings near the Gaza City port there were also Israeli rocket attacks on Deir el Belah and Rafah.