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Update on Battle of Beit Lahiya
Big EFL to just the battle news.
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) - Palestinian militants armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades battled Israeli helicopters and tanks Thursday in the bloodiest day since Israel invaded Gaza over a soldier's capture. At least 21 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier died.
Larger version of map available here.
Israeli troops retook three empty Jewish settlements nearly a year after abandoning them, seeking to carve out a temporary buffer zone in the northern Gaza Strip to prevent militants from firing more rockets into Israel.

Throughout the day, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at militants while Israeli tanks took up positions among tightly packed Palestinian homes. Apache helicopters hovered overhead, firing flares and machine guns to support ground troops fighting masked Palestinian gunmen. "We are doing the utmost effort ... to avoid civilian casualties," said Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan. "Really, there is no other way of operating against terrorists who are operating inside their own civilian populations."

Israeli helicopter gunships circled over the outskirts of Beit Lahiya, providing support fire as Israeli tanks maneuvered among tightly packed Palestinian homes. Infantrymen took over one family's house, locking the inhabitants on the bottom floor of the home and posting snipers on the upper floors. Outside, armored bulldozers pushed up sand embankments to shelter tanks.

Palestinian militants, many wearing black masks, crept down narrow alleys to get close to Israeli forces and open fire with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. Several militants were seen carrying bombs with electric cables to be buried in alleys or near roads and set off as tanks passed by. During lulls in the fighting, some Palestinian women and children fled their homes and left the area on foot.

Twenty-one Palestinians were reported killed during the day, including nine Palestinians who died from airstrikes in the Beit Lahiya area. A spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry, Khaled Radi, said he didn't know how many civilians were among the dead. He said 67 people had been wounded, including 20 children. Hamas said six of the dead were its members.

An Israeli soldier died in one skirmish - the first Israeli casualty of the offensive. Israel Radio and Army Radio said the army was checking the possibility that the Israeli soldier was killed by errant Israeli gunfire. The army spokesman's office denied that, saying he was killed by a Palestinian gunman.

Lt. Col. Yaniv, a battalion commander, said there had been stiff resistance. "The Palestinians have been firing rocket-propelled grenades, automatic weapons, and setting off explosive devices," said Yaniv, who only gave his first name under military regulations.
Posted by: Steve White 2006-07-07
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=158475