NEWS MIDDLE EAST Palestinians block Israeli air raid People surrounded the threatened building
to prevent the air assault
The Israeli military abandoned a planned air strike on the home of a Palestinian fighter in Gaza after hundreds of Palestinians formed a human shield around the building. Hundreds of people surrounded the home of Weil Baroud, a commander of the Popular Resistance Committees in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, after he was told by the Israeli army late on Saturday that the building was going to be bombed. He was given 30 minutes to leave. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that the raid had been called off because of the protest.
"The attack plan was cancelled because of the people there. We differentiate between innocent people and terrorists," he said.
Palestinian sources called the protest the first of its kind to have in effect prevented an air strike by the Israeli military. Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, reported that it was the first time such an act has been seen in the Gaza Strip by residents.
Baroud is accused of firing home-made rockets at Israel. Crowds of people stood on the rooftop and in the garden of the home. The Israeli spokesman said that his country would continue its attacks against fighters, and accused them of using the civilians in the camp as human shields. Nizar Rayan, a local Hamas leader who joined the protest, said: "We came here to protect this fighter, to protect his house and to prove that we are capable of defeating this Zionist policy."
The crowd chanted anti-Israel and anti-American slogans, and people said they were prepared to give their lives to protect the home. "Yes to martyrdom. No to surrender," the crowd chanted. Israel routinely orders residents out of their homes before air attacks on what it says are suspected weapons-storage facilities. Odeh said: "This is a usual type of tactic from Israel in the Gaza Strip. They have been using it for months now. This is a type of psychological warfare. "Weil Baroud is a member of a political faction that although not represented in parliament, does have a lot of support on the streets, especially in Gaza." Source: Aljazeera and agencies
Led by Nizar Rayan, a senior Hamas fighter, hundreds of Palestinian refugees gathered to protect the house of the leader of a militant group in Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza and succeeded in thwarting an Israeli attack.

As part of their campaign against Palestinian fighters, Israeli forces had warned Mohammedweil Baroud, a commander in the Popular Resistance Committee, that his house would be attacked in 30 minutes time. He was told to take his family out of the house in order to avoid civilian casualties. Instead, he called for help from the local mosque and people swarmed round and over Mr Baroud's house in such numbers as to dissuade the Israelis from making the promised attack.

The Palestinians claimed this to have been the first successful defence of its kind. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, visiting the house, said that people had been driven to this remedy because the UN had refused to defend them. On Friday, the Security Council vetoed a resolution condemning Israeli military action in Gaza. Nizar Rayan promised "We will pay with our lives to protect the houses of the fighters, so they can resist the enemy, assured their homes are being protected".

On November 8, an Israeli shell killed 19 civilians in Beit Hanoun, due to, what the Israelis called, a "technical fault in targeting".

An Israeli spokesman said that Israeli forces differentiate between innocent people and "terrorists" and that they would continue the attacks.

A Palestinian rocket killed an Israeli woman and seriously wounded a man in the town of Sderot on November 15. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president has called for a ceasefire by those launching rockets and suicide attacks against Israel and the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad is said to be considering this request carefully. Over 400 Palestinians, including many civilians, have been killed since June by attacks, which Israel says are aimed at Palestinian fighters.