Fighting erupts as Israeli troops move into Gaza
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.
The mosque raid brought the Palestinian death toll to at least 446, with about 2,050 wounded, in the worst sustained bloodshed in decades of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Four Israelis have also been killed in the cross-border rocket attacks by Hamas and other militant groups.
Israeli air strikes targeted Gaza from early morning on Saturday and naval vessels also shelled the area from the Mediterranean, witnesses said. One strike killed Abu Zakaria al-Jamal, a senior commander of Hamas’s armed wing, Hamas said.
Israel launched the campaign, called Operation Cast Lead, on December 27 saying it wanted to stop the rocket attacks and bring security to its south.
But about 30 Hamas rockets smashed into Israel on Saturday, the military said. Two people were hurt by shrapnel when a rocket hit a building in the port city of Ashdod.
Hamas vowed not to bow to Israel’s will.
The attacks brought a wave of international protests and thousands of demonstrators marched in solidarity with the Palestinians in European cities on Saturday.
In Paris, more than 20,000 demonstrators, many wearing Arab keffiyeh headscarves, chanted slogans like "Israel murderer!."
In London, 10,000 protesters led by singer Annie Lennox carried Palestinian flags and placards with slogans such as "End the siege on Gaza" and "Stop the massacre."
NO SLEEP AT NIGHT
The plight of the 1.5 million Palestinians crammed into Gaza was growing more desperate even before the ground attack. People had sheltered in their homes for days and humanitarian agencies warned that food, water and medical supplies were running short.
The electric power plant has shut down and the sanitation system cannot treat the sewage. In the winter cold, fuel for heating and cooking was no longer available, aid agencies said.
"We do not sleep at all at night. We stayed awake the whole night because of the planes," said Umm Kamel, a mother of 11 baking bread on a wood fire in her home in Gaza.
U.S. President George W. Bush said Hamas — which the United States, Israel’s main backer, deems a terrorist organization — must take the first step toward a ceasefire.
"Another one-way ceasefire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
Israel occupied Gaza in the 1967 Middle East War and after Palestinian uprisings formally ended its military rule in 2005, although it still controls the borders.
International peace efforts aimed at creating an independent Palestinian state foundered after Hamas won elections in 2006 and drove Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from Gaza a year later.
Hamas called off a six-month truce with Israel last month and stepped up the rocket attacks, complaining at Israeli raids into Gaza and a continuing blockade of the enclave.
Source:Reuters
Related posts:
- Israel vows ‘long’ Gaza campaign
- Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza truce
- Afghan ambush kills French troops
- The million dollar question: to move or improve?
- McCartney wows fans with historic Israel concert
Short URL: http://axxanews.com/?p=615
Posted by Axxa News Team
on Jan 3 2009. Filed under News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
How can children sitting at home be human shields? You Israeli Nazis are bombing everything in Gaza including homes, schools and churches. 1/3 of he killed in the this terrorist aggression are children. Human shields?? Hitler should have said the same thing when he was burning your grandparents you ignorant terrorist; I can’t believe that the same people that claim to have been victims of the terrible holocausts are now doing it to others. The Holocausts is no more than a hoax picture jews draw to get sympathy to create their land and expand it by their illegal settlements. Who has the settlements built on the other sides land? Get some better arguments than that, stupid! THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE COLD BLOODED-KILLINGS OF CHILDREN. I, now, more than ever, solute Hitler as he knew something most of us don’t know….”jews are the filth of this fucked up world”. The war on Iraq and the killings of millions there was planned by the Israelis as they are the ones supplied the fake evidence for the WMD’s. All for the security of Israel. Here in America, we lost our leadership economically, politically and ethically because of our stupid support for this terrorist country called Israel. Yes, I wish for the destruction of Israel, but its the “sad” truth that is going to save this planet from total destruction. The “cancer” of Israel has to be “Radiated” to prevent cancer from spreading. SHAME ON AMERICA FOR SUPPORTING THE SCUM BAG TERRORIST IN ISRAEL.
Go IDF! With the election of Barack Obama, Israel was backed into a corner and must strike back at Hamas. The incoming Obama crew has already expressed the need for a radical change in the Middle-East and we all remember Biden telling people that they would have to support Obama because of something un-popular that he would do when he takes office. Israel has every right to defend itself from Hamas missile strikes and has every right as a nation to exist. With Obama taking office Israel must do what it can to survive.
Israel is commiting a war crime with our money. Has been for decades… 4 bil help each year!!!!! All of it for military help to bomb palestinian children. Shame On Us!!!
Since Israel began “Operation Cast Lead” in Gaza Dec. 27 in an attempt to stop Iran-backed Hamas from its years-long campaign to kill and injure civilians in Israel , some have used the opportunity to spread misinformation about Israel ’s actions, intentions and the overall situation in Gaza . Following are examples of fabrications – refuted by factual accounts provided by international aid organizations, Arab leaders, and Palestinian journalists.
1) Fiction: There’s no food in Gaza and people are starving.
News reports, including one produced by TV station France 2 on Dec. 29, showed a Gaza resident in a food store saying:
“Apparently, there is nothing, as you can see. There are no natural products for the kids. There is no milk. There is nothing here.”[1]
Fact: Warehouses in Gaza are filled to capacity, according to international aid groups. In the same France 2 TV clip referenced above, upon closer inspection, shelves filled with food can be seen in the reflection of a refrigerated door in the store. To see clip: click on http://jt.france2.fr/20h/; click on “Lundi 29” – below the small screen; to the right of the new screen, click “Vie dans la bande de Gaza” The World Food Program informed Israel that it would cease shipment of food to Gaza because the warehouses there are at full capacity, with enough food to last two weeks.[2]
During a one-day period alone – Dec. 31– Israel facilitated the transport of 29 truckloads of food, including 15 truckloads of flour, into Gaza .[3] And even as Hamas was firing rockets and mortars during Israel during the ceasefire, Israel facilitated the delivery of 2,500 tons (delivered on 93 trucks) of humanitarian aid, medical supplies and medication through the Kerem Shalom cargo terminal.[4]
Since the beginning of the operation, about 6,500 tons of aid have been transferred into Gaza at the request of the international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments. Preparations are underway to facilitate further shipments.[5]
2) Fiction: Gaza has no medical and other aid supplies to help the injured.
Fact: During the first 5 days alone of Operation Cast Lead, Israel has facilitated the delivery of 6,500 tons of aid – 179 truckoads — into Gaza at the request of international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments. The deliveries include basic food commodities, medication, medical supplies and blood units. Another 106 truckloads of humanitarian aid are expected to arrive in Gaza on Jan. 31.[6] [7] The crossings to Gaza are open for the transfer of humanitarian aid from all international organizations, in full cooperation with the Israeli authorities and without restriction.[8] In a one-day period – Dec. 31 – Israel enabled the transport of 9 truckloads of medicine and medical supplies, along with 10 ambulances, into Gaza .[9]
3) Fiction: Israel is refusing to allow injured Gazans into Israeli and Egyptian hospitals for treatment.
Fact: Israel has allowed a number of Palestinians into Israel for medical treatment they couldn’t receive in Gaza . On Dec. 31, for example, 12 Palestinians accessed Israel for medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. Two of those evacuated were injured children; the remaining were chronically sick people, and their escorts, who were allowed into Israel for treatment not available in Gaza .[10]
Further, Hamas – in an effort to exploit the suffering of innocent civilians – has refused to allow injured Palestinians to leave Gaza to go to Egypt for treatment.[11] Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu al-Gheit said earlier this week that Hamas was not allowing wounded Palestinians to cross the border into Egypt for treatment: “We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to cross. They are not being allowed to cross.” Asked who was to blame, he referred to Gaza by saying, “Ask the party in control on the ground in Gaza .”[12]
4) Fiction: Israel is purposely targeting civilians.
Fact: While Israel goes out of its way to minimize civilian casualties, Hamas actually places civilians in harm’s way and uses them as shields. Because Hamas is known to use civilian residences to hide their weapons, on Dec. 27, the Israeli military – before launching an attack on such storehouses – called thousands of civilians in Gaza on their cell phones and left Arabic-language messages urging them to leave homes being used for weapons storage.[13]
On Dec. 30, a reformist Iranian newspaper published a statement by a student organization that criticized Hamas for risking civilian lives, including children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals. The Iranian Culture Ministry shut down the newspaper after it printed the statements.[14]
Israel has publicly stated time and again that it regrets the loss of any civilian life and considers each one a tragedy. However, both Iran-backed Hamas and Iran-backed Hezbollah have a history of faking deaths and funerals. For example, in Spring 2002, Palestinians were filmed as they attempted to stage a fake funeral as part of a gross exaggeration of the number of people killed in Jenin. The film shows Palestinians wrapping, then carrying a ‘corpse’ on a funeral pier; the ‘corpse’ falls off several times and gets back on – including in front of a large and surprised crowd.[15] Click here for video of faked funeral. Although some reports say a quarter of the deaths during “Operation Cast Lead” have been civilians, Palestinian terrorists’ history of deceptions and false claims require reporters to work to verify such information.
During Israel ’s defensive war against Hezbollah two years ago, the phenomenon was so common that it became known as “Hezbollywood.”[16] One of the best-known instances was when a man purporting to be a rescue worker at the site of a bombed village appeared in various photos in the international media, repeatedly displaying the same child’s dead body at different times – and in different poses – throughout the day. The man, identified as Salam Daher, wore a green helmet in all of the photos, earning himself the nickname “green helmet guy.” Daher was also found to have directed a camera shooting the scene.[17]
For experts available to comment on these and similar deceptions, please contact:
Richard Landes: e-mail: rlandes@bu.edu
Philippe Karsenty: e-mail: pk@M-R.fr
5) Fiction: Israel has cut off electricity to Gaza .
Fact: In the past, Hamas officials have committed deceptions such as pulling dark curtains in mid-day while holding a meeting to make it look as though they were being forced to work by candlelight – a sham exposed by journalists who showed that it was actually daylight outside at the time.[18] The ruse was carried out with the complicity of some Arab satellite TV stations. More recent such deceptions have come to light as recently as November 2008, when Palestinian Authority officials said Hamas staged new blackouts to try to get sympathy from the international community and provoke civilian violence against the Palestinian Authority and Israel .[19] Further, terrorists in Gaza have fired rockets at – and hit – the power station in the Israeli city of Ashkelon that provides Gaza the majority of its electricity.[20] The terrorists also have fired on Israeli workers at a depot that provides fuel to Gaza and a suicide bomber destroyed lines providing electricity from Israel into Gaza. [21]
“There’s no shortage of fuel in the Gaza Strip and the Electricity Company is continuing to function normally,” a PA official said in November. “Our people in the Gaza Strip have told us that the blackouts are all staged as part of the Hamas propaganda…There’s enough fuel in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “Even when Israel reduces the fuel supplies, Hamas continues to smuggle tens of thousands of liters through the underground tunnels.”[22]
6) Fiction: Palestinian journalists are unbiased and show what’s ‘really’ happening in Gaza .
Fact: Some Palestinian journalists are manipulating and exploiting unintended victims of the Israeli strikes. Said one Palestinian journalist, members of the Palestinian media are ‘directing’ civilians to cry and telling them what to say in interviews: “A mother of one of the martyrs stood by the door of the intensive care unit while crying… relatives and those around her were telling her what she should say to the television cameras: ‘Say your son [before he died] prayed and went out.’ Another tells her: ‘Curse the Arab leaders’… The journalists [in the hospitals] are going overboard in their insensitivity and taking advantage of the [difficult] moments, with the explanation that they are showing this to the world. One cameraman told a mourning mother: ‘Hit your face, cry, do some action.’”[23]
——————————————————————————–
Footnotes:
[1] “Vie dans la bande de Gaza,” France 2, Dec. 29, http://jt.france2.fr/20h/ [to see clip: click on http://jt.france2.fr/20h/; click on “Lundi 29” – below the small screen; to the right of the new screen, click “Vie dans la bande de Gaza”)
[2] “12 Palestinians from Gaza transferred to Israeli hospitals for assistance and 2500 tons of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza ,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 31, 2008
[3] “Presentation to Military Attaches,” Ministry of Defense, Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, December 2008
[4] “12 Palestinians from Gaza transferred to Israeli hospitals for assistance and 2500 tons of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza ,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 31, 2008
[5] Ibid.
[6] Martin, Patrick, “Israel shoots down ceasefire proposal,” Globeandmail.com, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081230.wgaza_main31/BNStory/International/home; “FACTBOX-Countries pledge aid to Palestinians in Gaza,” Reuters, Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLV538165; “Israel increases humanitarian effort to the Gaza Strip,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2008/Israel_increases_humanitarian_effort_Gaza_Strip_30-Dec-2008.htm
[7] “FACTBOX-Countries pledge aid to Palestinians in Gaza,” Reuters, Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLV538165; “Israel increases humanitarian effort to the Gaza Strip,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2008/Israel_increases_humanitarian_effort_Gaza_Strip_30-Dec-2008.htm
[8] “Humanitarian aid to Gaza following the 6-month calm,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jan. 1, 2009, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Humanitarian_aid_to_Gaza_following_6_month_calm.htm
[9] “Presentation to Military Attaches,” Ministry of Defense, Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, December 2008
[10] “Israeli Humanitarian Aid to Gaza,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 31, 2008, Communicated by the Ministry of Defense – Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories
[11] Shahine, Alaa, ” Egypt : Hamas denying Gaza wounded treatment in Egypt ,“ Reuters, Dec. 28, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4BR0QP20081228
[12] Ibid.
[13] Barzak, Ibrahim and Teibel, Amy, “Israeli assault on Hamas kills more than 200,” Associated Press, Dec. 27, 2008. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95BFQCG0
[14] Al-Ayyam, Jan. 1, 2009 via Palestinian Media Watch: Gaza Update 8, Jan. 1, 2009, “Hamas hiding forces in nurseries and hospitals.”
[15] Lerner, Aaron, “Israel screens fake Palestinian funeral for reporters,” Independent Media Review Analysis (IMRA), May 2, 2002, http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=11784
[16] Lyons, Andrew Ford, “Digitally Erasing a Massacre: Why Hezbollywood Was Born,” Counterpunch, Aug. 15, 2006, http://www.counterpunch.org/lyons08152006.html
[17] Kalb, Marvin and Saivetz, Carol, “THE ISRAELI-HEZBOLLAH WAR OF 2006: The Media as a Weapon in Asymmetrical Conflict,” research paper prepared at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, for presentation at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar on Feb. 18, 2007, http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/events/2007/0217islamic%20world/2007islamforum_israel%20hezb%20war.pdf; “‘Green Helmet Man’ accused of staging pix,” Fox News Channel, Aug. 15, 2006
[18] Soltis, Andy, “Hamas Dim Bulbs in Fake-Blackout Ruse,” The New York Post, Jan. 30, 2008, http://www.nypost.com/seven/01302008/news/worldnews/it_was_obvious_that_the_whole_thing_was__688294.htm
[19] Abu Toameh, Khaled, “PA: ‘Hamas is staging Gaza blackouts,’ The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 19, 2008, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404771503&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[20] Coughlin, Con, “Gazans should make the most of their liberation – it won’t last,” The Daily Telegraph, Jan. 25, 2008
[21] “Terror in Gaza : 12 months since the Hamas takeover,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, June 16, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Terror+in+Gaza-+Two+months+since+the+Hamas+takeover+16-Aug-2007.htm
[22]Abu Toameh, Khaled, “PA: ‘Hamas is staging Gaza blackouts,’ The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 19, 2008, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404771503&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
[23] “A Palestinian girl whose family members were killed yesterday in Gaza ,” Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin, Dec. 2008, http://www.pmw.org.il/Bulletins_Dec2008.htm#b2912083
So Israel is in Gaza. Great. Now maybe someone can tell me how Israel going to recognize a Hamas. Maybe its a regular Palestinian defending his land, his house, his family. I think Israel should have stopped after the air bombardment, and said, good that’s enough for now. Even Mr. Barack in his news conference, or statement this afternoon said, “we cannot stop the rockects”. I think this whole adventure isn’t but a political move. Israel has an election coming. We have a new president. And the Palestinians are paying a price for it, of course using Hamas.
Isreal has abonafide right to take action as any other nation or individual to defend itself from Nazi pigs in the middle east, anytime and anywhre.
Shame on the UN, Shame on the Catholic pope and Germany, Shame on Iran the global nazi racist terrorist finaciers, and shame on global PC propagandist anti semite media urinalists.
Ignorant racists are everywhre even with cnn. $$$$$ whores
Good evening
I asked a friend what would it take to make peace between the WARING parties in Palastine. He said the negociation of the right of Palastiniains to return home and the negociations of returned land that was taken from those/other palastinians.
It almost appears to be child abuse, for Isreal to attack people who appear to only have a sling shot, and send in troops drop bombs o the inocent then blame them, for electing the politicl group they chose. We have choose some bad politicains and we have taken land from the native Americans, and we have bombed cultural movements. Its 2009 why can’t we work closer to not bomb each other and to have compassion towards each other, and not be numb to what happen to others as though its happening to us? Thank you!
Richard A.