Beit Hanoun

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Coordinates: 31°32′21″N, 34°32′16″E

Beit Hanoun (Arabic: بيت حانون‎) is a town with a population of 35,000 which is administered by the Palestinian Authority like the rest of the Gaza Strip. It is located on the north-east edge of the Gaza Strip by the Hanoun stream, just 6 km away from the Israeli town of Sderot. As opposed to nearby Gaza City, its population is almost entirely of Bedouin descent. More than 5,000 of its residents are part of the "Zaneen" tribe.

This town is notable for the Beit Hanoun November 2006 incident where 19 Palestinians were killed from IDF shells and for its use as a base from which Hamas has fired Qassam rockets into the northern Negev towns like Sderot, as well as the Gush Katif settlements.

Preceding the incident, at least 140 Palestinians were killed by Israeli Forces in Beit Hanun from September 2000 to November 2006. [1]

[edit] See also

• Operation Days of Penitence
• 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict
• Operation Autumn Clouds

[edit] References