Israelis fire on women, killing two

GAZA CITY – About 200 Palestinian women broke through an Israeli troop and tank cordon around a mosque Friday to serve as human shields for dozens of armed militants.

The militants, some dressed in women’s clothes, escaped but two of the women were killed by Israeli fire, and 17 others were listed as wounded on one of the deadliest days of fighting in the coastal territory this year.

The women’s uprising brought a dramatic end to a 15-hour standoff and served as a surprise setback for Israeli forces that had stormed the town of Beit Hanoun on Wednesday to root out stockpiles of crude Kassam rockets and the militants who launch them into Israel.

An unarmed 17-year-old boy and a Hamas fighter also were killed in Beit Hanoun on Friday, bringing the death toll in the 3-day-old operation to 13 militants, 7 civilians and 1 Israeli soldier.

With Israelis occupying most of the town, the militants had taken refuge Thursday in Nasir Mosque and exchanged fire with them throughout the day.

After a frantic night of organizing, coordinated by cell phone with the gunmen in the mosque, the women marched Friday morning from the neighboring town of Beit Lahiya to take up their mission as shields. They brought extra robes and veils to disguise some of the 73 militants as women during their flight.

“We risked our lives to save our sons,” said Jamela Shanti, 45, a member of the Palestinian parliament and an organizer of the rescue operation.

Most of the gunmen belong to the armed wing of Hamas, the Islamist movement that governs the Palestinian territories. Israeli soldiers trying to force their surrender also hurled stun and smoke grenades at the mosque and knocked down an outer wall with a bulldozer late Thursday, weakening the entire structure, residents of the town said.

At that point, Hamas leaders devised the plan that depended on a large number of unarmed women volunteers.

Shanti, one of two Gaza women in Hamas’ parliamentary delegation, said it was hashed out during a 2 a.m. meeting of the party leadership. Two hours later, she began recruiting other women to help. As dawn broke Friday, the Hamas radio station urged women to gather for a midmorning march to Beit Hanoun – a call repeated over mosque loudspeakers in several towns.

The lead group of women approached the besieged mosque on foot, shouting at the Israelis to leave Gaza. Israeli soldiers turned from the mosque and opened fire. One woman, Ibtesam Masoud, 42, died at the scene and another, who was not identified, died in a hospital several hours later, Palestinian medical officials said.

An Israeli army spokesman said soldiers had spotted two male militants hiding among the women and fired at them. Footage filmed by Reuters and other news organizations showed no men in the crowd at the time.

In the ensuing melee, the crowd retreated, regrouped and advanced again, pushing its way inside the Israeli cordon. The soldiers held their fire, witnesses said, and the women entered the mosque and guided the militants out.

Abu Ubaida, a Hamas spokesman, said all the militants escaped unharmed, many by way of a hole connecting the mosque to an adjacent house.

“It was a very complicated operation, but our fighters managed to survive and get out of town,” Ubaida said.

The Israeli spokesman said the militants escaped in plain sight, protected by a crowd of women too numerous for the soldiers to control.

Shortly afterward, the mosque’s roof collapsed.

Television footage of the scene was rebroadcast throughout the day across the Middle East along with commentary in Arab media praising the women’s courage. Several demonstrations against the Israeli assault were held in Gaza following Friday prayers.

Israeli officials have said they expect the operation in Beit Hanoun to last several more days. It is the first takeover of an entire town since Israeli forces and settlers unilaterally withdrew from the coastal strip 14 months ago after a 38-year occupation.

The Israeli army began periodic, limited raids into Gaza in late June following the capture of one of its soldiers, who is still missing. The army said it targeted Beit Hanoun because it is the prime staging ground for daily rocket attacks on communities in southern Israel. The attacks have caused panic, property damage and six deaths in the last three years.

Nearly 300 Palestinians, about half of them noncombatants, have been killed in the Israeli raids since late June.