BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip – Hundreds of Palestinian women in robes and head scarves streamed into a Gaza combat zone Friday to help free gunmen besieged by Israeli troops at a mosque. Two women who came under fire were killed and at least 10 wounded, but some gunmen managed to escape.
The women left their homes after daybreak in response to appeals on the local Hamas radio station. By nightfall, they were celebrated as heroes, an unusual role in a conservative society that tends to keep women on the sidelines. Until Friday, battling Israeli troops had been men’s business in Gaza.
The mosque standoff came on the third day of Israel’s fiercest bid in months to halt Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli border communities. The offensive began Wednesday, when Israeli forces took over the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.
Dozens of Palestinian gunmen took cover in the town’s Al Nasser Mosque Thursday and were surrounded by Israeli forces. The two sides exchanged fire throughout the night. An army bulldozer knocked down an outer wall of the mosque, causing the ceiling to collapse.
On Friday morning, the local Hamas station, broadcast appeals to women to come to the rescue of the trapped gunmen. Hundreds responded. The women marched toward the mosque, coming under Israeli fire at times, and approached armored personnel carriers and bulldozers near the mosque.
Maj. Avital Leibovich said Hamas was exploiting women. “They were using those poor women as human shields,” she said. “This is a clear example of use of innocent population for terror.”
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