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World Jewish News
Israeli troops clash with Hamas
04.01.2009
Israeli ground forces are battling Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip, after Israel stepped up its operation to try to halt rocket attacks by militants.
Clashes have intensified in the north, with the territory cut in two and Gaza City surrounded. Both sides have reported casualties in the fighting.
The UN secretary general has called for an immediate halt to operations.
But an emergency Security Council meeting failed to agree a united approach to the Gaza conflict.
Diplomatic sources said it was the United States that blocked an agreement. US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff suggested that an official statement that criticised both Israel and Hamas would not have been helpful.
Many claims cannot be verified. Israel is refusing to let international journalists into Gaza, despite a Supreme Court ruling to allow a limited number of reporters to enter the territory.
Northern battles
As dawn broke on Sunday, a large plume of black smoke could be seen rising from part of the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Correspondents say there was a constant sound of machine-gun fire and explosions, as Israeli forces pounded Gaza from land and sea. The shelling went on throughout the night.
Witnesses say the attack began when Israeli military convoys supported by attack helicopters crossed into northern Gaza at four separate points after nightfall on Saturday.
The Israeli military said it had infantry, artillery, engineering and intelligence forces inside Gaza.
Scores of advancing Israeli tanks were reported to be in battles around Gaza City and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya.
The territory has been cut in two and the operation in the north has intensified, with the town of Beit Hanoun apparently surrounded.
Israeli troops have taken control of the former Jewish settlement of Netzarim, just south of Gaza City, which is in effect surrounded.
An overnight bombardment was also reported in Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt, but there have been no signs of a ground offensive there.
According to witnesses, Israeli troops have largely remained in the open and not entered urban areas.
Israeli sources say Hamas is not engaging in close combat but using mortars and bombs.
The Israeli military said 40 sites had been targeted, including tunnels used for smuggling, weapons depots and rocket launch sites.
Sources inside Gaza say at least 20 people were killed in overnight fighting, several of them civilians, and dozens were injured.
The Israeli army said 30 of its soldiers had been wounded in the ground offensive, two of them seriously.
'Long campaign'
An Israeli military source told the BBC it was unrealistic to stop all the rocket fire, but the army believes it can be decreased and made less accurate.
The objective, he said, was not to recapture the Gaza strip, but plans had been drawn up to unseat Hamas and if the order was given it could be done, although it would be a long campaign.
The move into Gaza had been preceded by some of the heaviest Israeli air and artillery attacks on the territory in more than a week of bombardment.
"Our aim is to force Hamas to stop its hostile activities against Israel and Israelis from Gaza, and to bring about a significant change in the situation in the southern part of Israel," Mr Barak told a news conference.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen on the Gaza border says it is also clear that Israel is sending a message to its other enemies, especially Hezbollah, whose capacity was not reduced by Israel's incursion in southern Lebanon in 2006.
Israeli warplanes and naval vessels have carried out more than 800 strikes on the Gaza Strip since the offensive started eight days ago, including 40 on Saturday.
The UN has warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis, and believes a quarter of the 470 Palestinians killed by Israel so far were civilians. Israel says about 80% of those killed were Hamas militants. Four Israelis have been killed by rocket fire from Gaza.
Источник: BBC NEWS
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