Israeli troops and tanks slice deep into Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Thousands of Israeli troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships surrounded Gaza's largest city and fought militants at close range Sunday, the first full day of an overwhelming ground offensive in the coastal territory.

Israel said it has inflicted a heavy blow against Hamas as it expands a weeklong offensive meant to stop rocket fire on southern Israel. But spiraling civilian casualties among Palestinians fueled an international outcry, even as the U.S. blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement Saturday night calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Israel's ground forces moved in after nightfall Saturday following hours of intense, fiery artillery shelling to clear the way, and Hamas warned that its fighters would turn Gaza into an Israeli "graveyard."

Palestinians reported clashes early Monday in eastern Gaza near the border with Israel. Hamas militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and mortars at advancing Israeli tanks. Explosions could be heard in Gaza City as aircraft attacked buildings. There was no immediate word about casualties.

On Sunday, Israeli soldiers fought primarily in open areas in the launching zones used by Gaza's militants to send rockets raining down on Israeli cities. As the troops in three brigade-size formations moved in, residents of those Israeli cities began cautiously emerging from bomb shelters in hopes that the rocket fire would taper off.

Backing up the troops, mobile artillery units fired shells that exploded in veils of white smoke over Gaza's urban skyline. Tanks pushed south of Gaza City as deep as the abandoned settlement of Netzarim, which Israel left along with other communities when it pulled out of Gaza in 2005.

That effectively cut off Gaza City, the territory's largest population center with some 400,000 residents, from the rest of Gaza to the south.

Israel's military chief said Hamas fighters were trying to draw soldiers deeper into Gaza's sprawling, densely packed urban areas, where the military said militants were shielding themselves behind civilians.

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"You entered like rats," Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan told Israeli soldiers in a statement on Hamas' Al Aqsa TV. "Gaza will be a graveyard for you, God willing," he said.

Israeli forces have not yet entered urban areas, said Brig. Gen. Avi Benayahu, the chief army spokesman. He warned, however, that the operation was not a "school trip" and would be long and demanding.

The ground invasion risks turning into intense urban combat, with house-to-house fighting, sniper fire and booby-traps. Hamas is believed to have some 20,000 gunmen and has had time to prepare.

To guard against hidden explosives, Israel's ground forces moved through fields and orchards with bomb-sniffing dogs.

Since the ground assault began, 64 Palestinian civilians have been killed, said Dr. Moaiya Hassanain, a Health Ministry official. The new deaths brought the death toll in the Gaza Strip to more than 512 since Dec. 27. The tally is based on figures from the U.N. and Palestinian health officials as well as a count by The Associated Press.

Five Israelis have been killed since the offensive began. One soldier has been killed in the ground operation and about 40 were wounded, some of them in heavy exchanges of fire near the militant stronghold of Jebaliya, a town on Gaza City's northern outskirts, the army said. Heavy Israeli casualties could undermine what has so far been overwhelming public support for the operation.

At one hospital in the northern village of Beit Lahiya, medics carrying three injured children in their arms rushed them to treatment. One of the children had a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his head and covering his eyes.

An Israeli shell also struck an ambulance in the town, killing a paramedic, said Marwan Abu Ras, a hospital administrator. The relief organization Oxfam, which said the ambulance belonged to a partner organization, al-Awda Hospital, confirmed the shelling.

An airstrike hit another ambulance belonging to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza City, killing three other paramedics, said medic Jamal Hawajiri. That ambulance crew was driving to a Hamas training site where there were reports of wounded.

An Israeli army spokesman said he had no information on the incidents.

The Israeli army said it had killed dozens of armed Hamas gunmen, but Gaza officials could confirm only a handful of dead fighters _ in part because rescue teams could not reach the battle zones.

Condemnation of Israel's ground operation poured in from the Middle East and Europe.

"The violence has to stop," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy scheduled talks Monday with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. While blaming Hamas for causing Palestinian suffering with rocket fire that led to the Israeli offensive, Sarkozy has condemned Israel's use of ground troops, reflecting general world opinion. Sarkozy and other diplomats making their way to the region are expected to press hard for a cease-fire.

Israel has four main demands: and end to Gaza rocket fire, a halt to Palestinian attacks, international supervision of a truce and an agreement to stop Hamas from re-arming. Hamas demands a cessation of Israeli attacks and opening of vital Gaza-Israel cargo crossings, Gaza's main lifeline.

U.S. officials maintained their firm support for Israel and squarely blamed Hamas.

Vice President Dick Cheney said Israel "didn't seek clearance or approval from us" before pushing into Gaza.

Sens. Harry Reid and Dick Durbin _ the top two Democrats in the chamber _ and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell all described Israel's actions as understandable.

"I think what the Israelis are doing is very important," Reid said. "I think this terrorist organization, Hamas, has got to be put away. They've got to come to their senses."

Israeli President Shimon Peres said that Israel had to push forward and that a cease-fire was pointless without a halt to Hamas rocket fire.

"Well, clearly, if there is somebody (who) can stop terror with a different strategy, we shall accept it," he said on ABC's "This Week."

"We shall not accept the idea that Hamas will continue to fire and we shall declare a cease-fire. It does not make any sense."

Palestinians said the Israeli military broke into broadcasts on the Hamas TV channel, Al Aqsa, appealing to Palestinians not to agree to serve as human shields for the militants. The message read, "Israel is acting only against Hamas and has no interest in harming you."

The ground operation is the second phase in an offensive that began as a weeklong aerial onslaught aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire that has reached deeper and deeper into Israel, threatening major cities and one-eighth of Israel's population of 7 million.

More than 45 rockets and mortar shells fell in Israel on Sunday morning, sending residents scrambling for bomb shelters. Four Israelis were lightly wounded.

In Gaza City, civilians cowered inside as battles raged, while terrified residents in other areas fled in fear. In the southern town of Rafah, one man loaded a donkey cart with mattresses and blankets preparing to flee.

Lubna Karam, 28, said she and the other nine members of her family spent the night huddled in the hallway of their Gaza City home. The windows of the house were blown out days earlier in an Israeli airstrike, and the family has been without electricity for a week, surviving without heat and eating cold food.

"We keep hearing the sounds of airplanes and we don't know if we'll live until tomorrow or not," she said.

Severe damage to Gaza's phone network was pushing the territory closer to complete isolation. The Palestinian phone company Paltel Group said 90 percent of Gaza's cellular service was down, as well as many landlines, because of frequent power cuts and the inability of technicians to reach work sites.

In his first public comments on the operation, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet Sunday that Israel could not allow its civilians to continue to be targeted by rockets from Gaza.

"This operation was unavoidable," he said.

Military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Cabinet Hamas was using mosques, public institutions and private houses as ammunition stores, Cabinet secretary Oved Yehezkel told reporters.

Israel approved the mobilization of thousands more reservists in addition to tens of thousands called up on Saturday. Defense officials said the extra forces could enable a far broader ground offensive.

The troops could also be used in the event Palestinian militants in the West Bank or Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon launch attacks, as Hezbollah did in 2006 when Israel was in the midst of a large operation in Gaza.

___

Jason Keyser reported from Jerusalem.

Comments

[citizensrus]

What defines peace for Israel? What defines peace for Palestine? What defines victory for either side? Even if Palestine or Hamas did not exist..would Israel be secure enough to have peace? No. Because the war is not limited. It is a Middle East war..and Gaza is just the frontline.

[Amennyc]

the "Change You Can Believe In" better start with openess to Cuba and Dealing with Israel the wild card.

[themodernleader]

Is it not true that Israel yearns for cheap labor and living space? And their foreign policy reflects that goal, at least towards the Palestinians, in my humble opinion.

[OutsiderSA]

I have seen many comparisons to Apartheid SA but this is nothing like what we had here back then. Yes there were self governing homelands and these were financially supported by the govt. Some of these homelands did in fact have economic growth albeit small and although they all knew, they could have a security force to protect themselves, no attrition was tolerated.

The real evil was what happened within the townships that dotted the "white" cities by the secret police.

The homeland system did actually play a part in a transition to full democracy avoiding an all out war between white an black.

Nothing that happened here compares to what is happening there and I condone neither side.

War and death of innocents achieves nothing.

Once upon a time believe it or not, the USA supported SA even in the Apartheid years. I think Clinton was the one who made efforts to pressurize the then govt but by then there already was movement towards full democracy.

Maybe Israel, can take a page out of our book.

[ONESTATESOLUTION]

remember when israel would say if they could just get rid of arafat everything would be fine. they are saying the same thing about hamas. as long as gazans are forced to live in abject poverty in would is tantamount to a concentration camp there will be no peace.

[melponeme k]

No more inflated funny money dollars going to support Israel. Lets see how far they take their war then.

[ONESTATESOLUTION]

obama will come out with some weak comment about 'limiting civilian casualties' and that will be it...a sign that there will be no real change.

[ONESTATESOLUTION]

israel can call any palestinian a 'hamas leader' and everyone is supposed to buy this bull.

[miguelobrien]

Read the Old Testament accounts of the Hebrew invasion of Canaan and the slaughter of thousands, including livestock and even trees, names, places, numbers. Deja vu all over again, Only they did not claim self defense.

[FloaterBall]

Both sides are right
Both sides murder
I give up
Why can't they?

--John Doe and Exene Cervanka "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts"

[hildutus]

Two sides were fighting over a strip of land along the sea, each side claiming that Father Zeus had given it to their side. Father Zeus, however, proclaimed that as long as the two sides kept fighting, he would gradually lower the land. When they felt the land sink beneath their feet, each side fought harder, bitterly accusing the other side of causing the land to sink. When the sea washed up into their fields, each side loudly claimed the other was responsible for the catastrophe and stepped up their fighting. When the water was at their waists, they waded through it to attack each other. When the water rose above their heads, they clung to bits of wood to carry on their struggle. Finally, they stopped fighting; and the sharks gave thanks to Father Zeus.

[theplaintrutho1]

Nonsense type analogy since the overwhelming majority of Israelis come from Europe, are Caucasian, and just as their rights were trampled on and stolen in Europe, doesn't give them privilege to trample on other peoples rights and possessions because the USA and Western-Europe would not house them. Then the USA and UN decide to send them to Palestine, split it, and name half Israel.

[mengcomment]

I wrote a poem in response to the war
it's the fish that live and die

if fish in a fishbowl swim left and right,
if people on earth live through light and night,

and hands feed the fish with fishfood at bright,
and fate bestows people with fortune and pride,

when fish feel lucky and happy and well,
when people feel safe and health and wealth,

then water freezes to ice and fish see no light,
then peace turns to war and people must fight,

and coldness and darkness cast shadows like night,
and evil emerges with no ends in sight,

but someday the ice will break and crack,
but fighting will cease when much blood was shed,

if beams of light fall through the top of the ice,
if peace talks resume even fighting resides,

then summer returns to the fishbowl at last,
then peace is established and war is just past,

again will the hands feed the fishbowl at bright,
again will the peoples feel wealth and pride,

what a wonderful place for a fish to be,
what a marvelous world for all peoples to see,

in the end all fish live and all fish die,
we all know how, but I still wonder why.

Meng Qiu
www.mengcomment.com

[Imbwayablair]

Can someone tell me why Israel is strategically important to the USA?

[HyperInfluential]

Well for one thing we can store items there and know they won't be sold to our enemies behind our backs. We can launch planes from there, our traveling diplomats can stay there and enjoy a Western atmosphere, and also they keep an eye out for Communists.

The reasons our former leaders make alliances with other countries is not always clear. What exactly does Chad bring to the table? Who knows. The point is, a good and honorable country sticks by its allies in times of trouble. That's what it means to be an ally. If you want to rethink the alliance, the middle of a crisis is not the best time to do it. That's kind of like laying off an entire factory while the town is flooded underwater.

[BritishColumbian]

When is the mainstream media going to start shouting about Israel's refusal to allow the press who want to be there into Gaza to actually report on what is going on? They are defying there on Supreme Court and the media is largely depending on Israel's talking points as news.

What would it be like to be chained off from the rest of the world, dependent on another country for food, medicine, fuel and monies owing to you? What would anyone do to protest and get the world's attention?

[HyperInfluential]

Well, killing random civilians with rocket fire is ONE way to get the world's attention, but I would think that killing people would be the last thing you would want to do if you're trying to get sympathy. "Oh poor us, poor us, see how we suffer? Look at all the innocent people we killed to bring attention to our suffering! We must be suffering a lot to do something like that, huh?"

It fails to elicit sympathy from me anyway.

[Blindfaith]

I really don't see the difference between what Israel has done and what America did to Iraq and Afghanistan. American K illed hundreds of thousands of innocent people in countries that were no threat to us. Bin L aden is Saudi, not that I am saying Bin L aden had anything to do with our building demolitions.