Fighting Erupts as Israeli Troops Move into Gaza
GAZA (Reuters) — Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters as they advanced into Gaza on Saturday in the first ground combat of an eight-day offensive on the Palestinian enclave, witnesses and the Israeli army said. Columns of tanks backed by helicopters crossed the boundary fence from four directions into the northern Gaza Strip under darkness, a Palestinian witness said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the aim was to seize areas from where Hamas was launching rocket attacks on southern Israel. “The objective is to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations,” Major Avital Leibovitch said.
The witness said fighting had broken out in northern Gaza as Hamas fighters took on the Israeli forces. Israeli television showed soldiers in battle gear advancing on foot. Israeli troops and tanks had been massed on the border for days in readiness for an invasion as Israeli firepower pounded Gaza from land, sea and air and diplomatic efforts to arrange a ceasfire stalled.
Israeli officials had repeatedly warned they were prepared to step up military action if Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel did not stop, but Hamas kept up the action on Saturday. Large numbers of forces were involved in the operation, including infantry, tanks, engineers, artillery and intelligence, the military said in a statement.
The ground offensive could take many days, the chief military spokesman said. “This won’t be a school outing,” Brigadier Avi Benayahu told Israeli television. “We are taking about many long days.” A senior Hamas official said the militants had killed a number of Israeli soldiers but there was no word from Israel on any casualties.
“The Zionist enemy should know that he has four choices of he enters Gaza, first he may be killed, or taken captive, or suffer a permanent disability or return home with a psychological illness,” Hamas said in radio broadcast. Hours before the advance, an Israeli air strike killed 11 Palestinian worshippers, including children, and wounded dozens at a mosque in Beit Lahiya, Hamas officials and medics said.
Rescuers pulled civilian victims from the debris and the bodies lay in pools of blood, witnesses said. Israel has targeted mosques previously, saying that Hamas had used them as command posts and fire bases.
