Israeli forces sharply stepped up an offensive against
Palestinian militants in Gaza Wednesday, fighting running battles
with gunmen and killing 12 people in the worst violence since the
cross-border operation began.
Gunmen also killed a soldier in northern Gaza, where clashes
raged, Al-Jazeera television said. The army had no comment.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered tanks to push deeper
into Gaza overnight after militants from the ruling Hamas movement
fired rockets into a major Israeli city for the first time.
The incursion nearly a year since Israel quit Gaza after 38
years of occupation expands an offensive that began last week with
the main goal of bringing home a captured soldier.
Among the deadliest attacks, an Israeli air strike near the town
of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza killed five Palestinians, witnesses
and medics said.
The army said it was checking the report.
Beit Lahiya was also scene of the heaviest ground fighting, with
gunmen from various factions firing anti-tank rockets at Israeli
troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships.
An Israeli tank shell killed two militants near Beit Lahiya, the
Hamas armed wing said. Tank fire also killed one civilian, the
victim's family said.
Medics said around 30 Palestinians were wounded.
The army said three soldiers were hurt, one seriously.
It also denied tanks were inside Beit Lahiya and said ground
troops were doing most of the fighting.
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Beit Lahiya's streets were largely deserted as frightened residents
sheltered indoors.
"Israeli tanks are outside our house. Children are screaming and
the house is shaking. We are caught in the crossfire," one woman
told a local radio station.
Air strikes near the southern town of Khan Younis killed a
civilian and a militant, witnesses said. An army spokeswoman said
aircraft had targeted militants who fired seven anti-tank missiles
at Israeli forces. She said the dead were militants.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz said that although Israel
quit Gaza last year, "no one should see that as a guarantee that we
cannot reach territory in which we feel we have no choice but to
operate".
"We have no intention of sinking into the Gaza swamp," he
added.
(China Daily July 7, 2006)
