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An Israeli tank advances towards the northern Gaza Strip at sunrise from a military staging area in southern Israel. (AP)
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| By Associated Press July 6, 2006 |
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Israeli forces on Thursday took over the remains of three abandoned Jewish settlements in northern Gaza and clashed with gunmen on the outskirts of a Palestinian town, carving out a temporary buffer zone to prevent Palestinian militants from firing rockets at Israeli towns and cities.
The move marked an expansion of Israel's largest operation in Gaza since Israel's withdrawal from the coastal territory nearly a year ago. At least six Palestinians were killed in fighting Thursday.
Officials decided to step up the offensive, launched last week in response to the capture of an Israeli soldier, after Palestinian militants from the ruling Hamas party fired two upgraded rockets into the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. No one was hurt, but the rockets were the first to reach the city of 110,000, infuriating Israeli leaders.
A senior government official said Israeli troops would enter the densely populated towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun -- which militants often use to launch rockets. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss military plans, he said the incursions would be temporary.
"We are doing the utmost effort ... to avoid civilian casualties," said Israeli Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan. "Really there is no other way of operating against terrorists who are operating inside their own civilian populations."
At midday, an Associated Press reporter accompanying the Israeli troops said the forces had reached the outskirts of Beit Lahiya and taken over a two-story house with a family inside. An Israeli tank and several armored vehicles surrounded the house. The family was confined to the ground floor.
Gunshots and tank fire rang out in the area, and Palestinian medics said one Palestinian was killed in a shootout.
Israeli leaders said their aim is to stop the rocket fire and bring back the captured soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit. They said there are no plans to reoccupy Gaza or carve out a permanent buffer zone.
"We have no intention of drowning in the Gaza swamp," Defense Minister Amir Peretz said.
Peretz said later that there is still time to end the crisis. "Return Gilad alive and healthy, stop firing rockets and we will return our soldiers to their bases," he said in a speech.
Asaf Shariv, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, denied media reports that Israel had received new messages from Hamas softening its demands for a large-scale prisoner release.
Speaking to the AP, he ruled out any prisoner release, saying it would encourage "military actions against Israeli soldiers and make (miltants) want to kidnap more and more people."
Israeli tanks and ground forces rumbled into the abandoned settlements overnight. Backed by artillery and helicopters, the Israelis struck militant targets throughout the day.
An Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza early Thursday killed a Hamas militant and wounded a second, Hamas officials said. Two militants were killed in an airstrike in the southern town of Khan Younis later in the day, Palestinian officials said. The army said the airstrikes had targeted militants who were attacking troops.
In another incident, a Hamas militant and a Palestinian policeman were killed and 11 people wounded in an explosion along the northern part of the Gaza beach. Palestinians said Israel shelled the area. The army denied that, and was investigating the cause of the blast.
Sporadic gunbattles erupted throughout the day, the military said. The army said one soldier was slightly wounded during the fighting, while Palestinian medics said at least four Palestinians, including an 18-year-old female, were wounded.
The destroyed Gaza settlements -- Nissanit, Dugit and Elei Sinai -- lie just south of the border with Israel. Before Israel dismantled its Gaza communities last years, critics of the withdrawal warned the pullout would put more Israeli cities within rocket range.
A buffer zone could be the only way to keep Israeli population centers out of rocket range. But such a zone brings back bitter memories of a similar tactic Israel used in southern Lebanon, when its forces held onto a security zone for 18 years in an attempt to prevent Hezbollah guerrillas from firing rockets at Israel.
The guerrillas still fired rockets, and the zone became a deadly battlefield. Pressure from concerned parents and Israelis opposed to the occupation finally forced Israel to withdraw in May 2000.
Hamas's military wing said Wednesday that the rocket fired at Ashkelon was a new-longer range weapon that can hit targets at least 7.5 miles away. Such a range could require Israel to push the buffer zone further into Gaza, bringing forces into populated areas the army is reluctant to enter.
Israel invaded Gaza last week after Shalit, 19, was captured by Hamas-linked militants who infiltrated Israel. Israeli forces have been massed in southern Gaza for more than a week in search of Shalit. Israel also has arrested Hamas ministers and lawmakers, and restricted movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday called on Arab and Islamic countries as well as international groups to protect the Palestinian people and stop the Israeli operation.
"Solving issues can't be through military escalation or expanding their scope, but through stopping the aggression, and respecting the will of the Palestinian people and answering to their nationalist just demands," he said.
Shalit's captors have demanded that Israel release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for information about the soldier. Israel has publicly refused to negotiate, but could be indirectly communicating with Hamas through mediators.
Egyptian and Turkish mediators are trying to end to the worsening crisis caused by the capture of Shalit.
The United States, European Union and United Nations have all called for Shalit's release, but also urged Israel to show restraint.
Israel clamped a total closure on Gaza after the soldier was captured, trying to prevent militants from moving him out of Gaza. In the last two days, Israel has reopened two crossings to allow badly needed food and fuel into Gaza. The Gaza-Egypt border was scheduled to open briefly Thursday to allow about 250 Palestinians stranded in Egypt to return home.
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