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A Palestinian man captured by Israeli troops in Gaza said after his release on Friday that he had seen the corpses of many Islamist fighters bulldozed into piles covered with sand.
"They used a bulldozer to pile up the bodies of the dead. There were bodies of many fighters," said the man, who was released by the Israelis after five days of detention and allowed to return to Gaza.
An Israeli army spokesman said he had no knowledge of such an incident.
The Palestinian gave his name as Eyad and said he saw the bodies in Beit Lahiya, a town in north Gaza that was an early objective in the ground offensive launched by Israel last Saturday after its aircraft had bombed Gaza targets for a week.
Hamas has not revealed how many Gaza fighters have been killed or wounded. The Israeli army said three days ago it had killed more than 130 since ground combat started.
Israeli forces arrested hundreds of Palestinians as they advanced into the Gaza Strip on an operation the government said was intended to crush Hamas and stop the firing of rockets into Israel.
Of about 200 held in Beit Lahiya, 75 were set free on Friday. They looked pale and exhausted and were barefoot. They crossed back into the Gaza Strip via Israel's fortified Erez crossing in the north.
Eyad said they were first held as "human shields" inside military positions established by the army, then moved to a prison in Israel.
"In the first day (of the ground offensive) special forces stormed Beit Lahiya. Maybe a thousand soldiers landed on rooftops then began arresting people," he said.
"They also demolished houses they said were used to fire rockets from, or to hide tunnels."
Once in detention, Palestinians were interrogated to find out "who was firing rockets and who dug tunnels".
"They used us as human shields in military positions they established inside Gaza Strip before they drove us to a prison in Beersheba," he said. "They made us sleep on gravel, or on the sand. They stripped us of our clothes."
During his five days in detention, new captives were being brought in every day, the man said.
Israel attacked Gaza on December 27 after the Hamas Islamic militants in control of the coastal strip ended a 6-month truce, saying the Israelis had violated a pledge to ease their blockade on Gaza, and started firing more rockets at southern towns.
The rockets have killed four Israelis. The Israeli offensive has killed 783 Palestinians. But Israel says it will continue the operation until Hamas stops attacking southern Israel.
Israel has ignored a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni saying Israel will keep acting according to the security needs of its citizens and its right to self-defence.
Officials from Hamas also dismissed the resolution, according to news reports.
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Post new commentfarhatmirza said on 2009-01-21 @ 09:43 NZDT: Report abusive post
Dear Sir/Madam, If and when the information is declassified, it may come out that the connection between 'shoe-treatment' of G.Bush in Iraq and, the carnage if not the genocide that followed in Ghaza, was not, after all, the figment of ones imagination. Regards, fjm
sheildzee said on 2009-01-20 @ 19:34 NZDT: Report abusive post
Please report accurately. Hamas did not "seize control of Gaza from Abbas's Fatah forces in 2007 ...". You rightly state that Hamas won the general election so Hamas did not "seize" anything. Your point about Fatah is superfluous anyway so just stick to the facts - " Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people in democratic elections held in 2006." That is the truth. The power struggle that followed the democratic election of Hama is another issue entirely.
flyer said on 2009-01-19 @ 16:50 NZDT: Report abusive post
Whew, a ceasefire of sorts - obviously the protest of the southland cafe owner against Israeli women has brought everyone to the negotiating table - AS IF.....
farhatmirza said on 2009-01-19 @ 11:42 NZDT: Report abusive post
Dear Sir/Madam, To say that Israel funded Hamas looks improbable, if not ridiculous. However, I won't be surprised if Hamas took a cue of two from Hagana, Irgun, or Lehi. Regards, fjm
philipmcc said on 2009-01-19 @ 10:01 NZDT: Report abusive post
I feel sad enough about the Gaza protagonists each claiming that they are the 'good guys' and the others are the 'bad guys', and the suffering that creates. But as I read these comments I see the same human tendency being acted out. So many claim that their view is 'right' and the others are 'wrong'. This stance is a major factor in all conflict. While that fear-based tendency persists we will go on having wars like Gaza.