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by Christian/Base21 Media Activist
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At least 16 Palestinian civilians were killed and more than 140 others injured before dawn Monday when an Israeli helicopter gunship fired missiles at civilian onlookers near a mosque in Khan Younis in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

Eyewitnesses described the scene of the killing as “gruesome massacre.”

“It is a big massacre, Israel is carrying out a real genocide against Palestinians here. When will the world intervene to stop this genocide?” Said 23 years old Fouad Abdul Salam.

“How many more Palestinian children will have to be slaughtered by the terrorist Sharon before the world wakes up?”

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, an apache helicopter fired at least one missile at the crowd, causing the mayhem.

“As you see, it is a slaughter house, and it is all kosher, “ said Hasan Astal, who lost two of his relatives in the carnage.

“Shame on this world where children are massacred by helicopter gunships while hypocritical politicians in London and Washington look the other way. Aren’t we human beings, too? Isn’t this terror?”

Palestinian sources said dozens of Israeli tanks overran the Amal neighborhood in Khan Younis shortly after midnight and began firing artillery shells at civilian homes.

An elderly Palestinian woman was killed and other members of her family injured.

The invading forces didn’t destroy homes as they usually do in such incursions.

However, when the tanks withdrew shortly before dawn, hundreds of Palestinians left their homes and gathered near a Mosque at the Katiba neighborhood, apparently to inspect the damage.

At this point, an Israeli helicopter fired the missile directly at the crowd, causing the mass killing.

Palestinian official Sa’eb Ereikat appealed to the international community to pressurize Israel to stop “these daily massacres.”

“They are slaughtering our people en mass, this genocide has got to stop,” said Ereikat.

The Israeli army said the killings were being investigated, but human rights groups argue that the Israeli government allows the killing to take place in order to make life for the Palestinians unbearable so that they will eventually leave their ancestral land for the Jews.

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has described the pre-dawn massacre in Khan Younis as “a very successful operation.”
Sharon, a certified war criminal, praised the Israeli army for carrying out “this difficult and complicated operation.”

“The operation was a successful operation,” Sharon told a press conference in West Jerusalem Tuesday.

“This operation was complicated, it was a difficult operation, there will be more operations in Gaza.”