by Justice Lover
At approximately 4am, on 11 April 2008, a special unit of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) penetrated on foot into the Gaza Strip. The force mobilized at the Gaza border and moved one kilometer into northeastern Al Bureij refugee camp, where it broke into a number of houses and took positions atop of them. This force was backed by many tanks, military vehicles, and drones. IOF tanks opened fire indiscriminately in the area and bulldozed fields planted with olive trees. At approximately 1pm, the IOF opened fire at a group of children, who are residents of the nearby area. As a result, 13-year-old Riyad Sherif Al Owais was killed and five other children were injured. In all, seven people were killed in this incursion.
At approximately 2:20pm later that day, the IOF fired an artillery shell at a group of children and teenagers who gathered to watch the incursion. As a result, four of them were killed immediately and were identified as:
- 18-year-old Shihab Mohammad Ahmad Abu Zubeida of Al Bureij refugee camp;
- 19-year-old Jihad Mohammad Salem Abu Zubeida of Al Bureij refugee camp;
- 18-year-old Yousif Ali Al Maghari of Al Bureij refugee camp; and,
- 18-year-old Abdul- Raziq Atta Nofal of An Nuseirat refugee camp.
Three others were injured and one, 15-year-old Yousif Sarhan, sustained serious injury. He was transferred to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for treatment, where medical sources later pronounced his death. He was from Al Bureij refugee camp.
The IOF continued to fire at crowds, causing injury to thirty-one people including 15 children. The injured were transferred to Al Shadha'a Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah for treatment. Due to the seriousness of their wounds, eight of those injured were transferred to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Later that day, at approximately 8pm, an IOF warplane fired one missile at a group of armed resistance members. As a result, 28-year-old Munzir Abu Howeshl, from An Nuseriat refugee camp, was killed.
At approximately 10:30am on 12 April 2008, the IOF began to withdraw and pulled out completely by 2pm that afternoon.
