GAZA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israel launched new attacks
against the Gaza city early Tuesday from air, ground and sea, and large sound of
explosions was heard.
In this photo released by the Israeli
Defence Forces (IDF), Israeli soldiers walk towards the northern Gaza
Strip January 12, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
The Israeli forces attacked Gaza backed by artillery
and helicopters. No exact numbers of casualties were available now, but reports
said large number of casualties might be possible.
Some witnesses said that a batch of Israeli special
forces advanced into the southern Gaza city and exchanged fire with Palestinian
militants.
Sounds of the battle could be heard around the city.
Hamas said it knocked out two Israeli tanks with
rocket-propelled grenades, which was denied by the Israeli side.
The Israeli army has been carrying out air and ground
military offensive in the enclave controlled by Hamas, where it bombed hundreds
of targets that belong to the movement's political and military establishments.
In this photo released by the Israeli
Defence Forces (IDF), Israeli soldiers walk towards the northern Gaza
Strip January 12, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Medics said Monday that over 900 people have been
killed and more than 4,100 others wounded, around half of them are civilians.
All Hamas political and military leaders have been hiding for 17 days in the
Gaza Strip.
The deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya said
in a recorded video on Monday night that Hamas is working on two parallel
tracks, the first is resistance and steadfastness, the second is the political
track to confront the military aggression on the Palestinian people.
Haneya's speech, the second one since the beginning
of the Israeli military offensive on the enclave on Dec. 27 last year, was
broadcast by the pro-Hamas al-Aqsa TV station.
JERUSALEM, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert on Monday reiterated that his nation must ensure an end to both
anti-Israel rocket fire from and weaponry smuggling into the Hamas-ruled Gaza
Strip before accepting any ceasefire.
"We want the attacks on Israel's residents to stop
once and for all," enabling southern residents to live in "the same quiet that
residents of Paris, London, New York and other places enjoy," local news service
Ynet quoted him as saying at a ceremony at a French-Israeli school. Full story
Israeli reservists rest before crossing
into the northern Gaza Strip January 12, 2009. An Israeli military
spokesman said army reservists had been thrown into the campaign that
Israel launched with the declared aim of ending cross-border rocket
attacks from the Hamas-ruled territory to its south. Israeli troops fought
gun battles with Hamas fighters on Monday, keeping military pressure on
the Islamist group while avoiding all-out urban warfare that would
complicate ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the Gaza war.(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
JERUSALEM,
Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday continued to send
reserve soldiers into the Gaza Strip, in a move widely seen as a signal for a
possible escalation of the ongoing offensive. Full story
