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Fighting Escalates as Israeli Troops Push Farther into Gaza
Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen battled Sunday morning on the outskirts of Gaza City in some of the most intense fighting of the week-old ground offensive as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared that Israel is "close" to achieving its goals, but is not there yet.On the sixteenth day of war since Israel launched a surprise air assault on Gaza, Israeli tanks backed by helicopter gunships pushed further toward the narrow strip's main population center, Gaza City. Ambushed by fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two sides battled for five hours Sunday morning, witnesses said. The fighting left at least 27 Palestinians dead, according to medical officials in Gaza. There was no immediate report of Israeli casualties. The tank movement was seen in Gaza as a possible precursor to a new phase of the war, one in which Israeli forces move into the territory's most densely packed urban centers and refugee camps. In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not directly address where the campaign would go next. But he did indicate that the war will go on. "Israel is getting close to achieving the goals it set for itself," he told his cabinet during their weekly meeting. "But patience, determination and effort are still needed to realize these goals in a manner that will change the security situation in the south." Israel has said that it intends to eliminate or vastly reduce Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel. The rockets continued to fly Sunday, with two landing in the city of Beersheba, 25 miles from Gaza, although no major injuries were reported. On Saturday, Israeli military officials said they bombed about 60 targets, while Hamas launched about 15 rockets into southern Israel, the lowest one-day total since the war began. One rocket struck the city of Ashkelon, 12 miles north of Gaza, wounding several people. The Palestinian death toll rose to 869 Sunday, Gazan medical officials said. Thirteen Israelis have been killed since the war began Dec. 27. Eight Palestinians were killed Saturday when a shell crashed outside a home in the Jabalya refugee camp, Gazan medical officials said. The Israeli military denied responsibility, saying its forces were not in that area. Weary Palestinians have braced themselves for the possibility that the worst is yet to come. On Saturday, warplanes dropped leaflets warning that an escalation in the fighting was likely. Thousands of the leaflets fell out of the sky onto the Shati refugee camp, a concrete slum where about 80,000 people live along the Mediterranean Sea. The written warnings were clear: Don't help Hamas, and evacuate your homes if there are any "terrorist elements" nearby. Posted by: Fred 2009-01-12 |
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