GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- About 50 Israeli tanks moved back into northern Gaza early Wednesday and five Palestinians were killed in airstrikes as Israel pressed ahead with its nearly month-long Gaza offensive. Israeli aircraft carried out at least three airstrikes as the troops moved in, killing five people and wounding 15, hospital officials said. Two of the five dead were militants, but the other three were not immediately identified, they said. The Israeli military said forces were operating in northern Gaza as part of a campaign to stop terrorism and rocket barrages at Israel. The military said aircraft targeted three groups of militants who were approaching the troops. Exchanges of fire between the two sides were reported through the night. A number of Israeli tanks and bulldozers also crossed into southern Gaza near Khan Younis on Tuesday, witnesses said.
Israeli aircraft carried out at least three airstrikes as the troops moved in, killing five people and wounding 15, hospital officials said. Two of the five dead were militants, but the other three were not immediately identified, they said.
The Israeli military said forces were operating in northern Gaza as part of a campaign to stop terrorism and rocket barrages at Israel. The military said aircraft targeted three groups of militants who were approaching the troops. Exchanges of fire between the two sides were reported through the night.
A number of Israeli tanks and bulldozers also crossed into southern Gaza near Khan Younis on Tuesday, witnesses said.
Here's an update from AFP:
12 Palestinians killed as Israel pounds Gaza GAZA CITY: Twelve Palestinians, including a toddler, were killed on Wednesday as Israel pounded Gaza with air strikes and spearheaded a fresh incursion, one day after president Mahmud Abbas demanded a ceasefire. Nearly 130 Palestinians have now been killed in Israel's offensive in Gaza, increasingly sidelined as the world focuses on a deadlier conflict in Lebanon but waged in order to recover a captured soldier and stop rocket attacks. As world diplomats opened a conference in Rome seeking to halt the bloodshed between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, 12 Palestinians were killed in multiple Israeli attacks in eastern Gaza City, medics said. At least six of the dead were named militants, including four from the armed wing of the governing Hamas movement, one of the three hardline groups to claim responsibility for the June 25 raid in which Corporal Gilad Shalit was seized. <...> Gunfire erupted on the ground as Israel stepped up its nearly five-week offensive after a relative lull that has nonetheless put soldiers back in impoverished Gaza less than 10 months after they ended a 38-year presence. Security sources reported heavy exchanges of fire as Israeli troops thrust about two kilometres (just over a mile) from the border with Israel. Apart from six named militants, a three-year-old girl, a male resident and a 17-year-old boy were among the dead, medics said.
GAZA CITY: Twelve Palestinians, including a toddler, were killed on Wednesday as Israel pounded Gaza with air strikes and spearheaded a fresh incursion, one day after president Mahmud Abbas demanded a ceasefire.
Nearly 130 Palestinians have now been killed in Israel's offensive in Gaza, increasingly sidelined as the world focuses on a deadlier conflict in Lebanon but waged in order to recover a captured soldier and stop rocket attacks.
As world diplomats opened a conference in Rome seeking to halt the bloodshed between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, 12 Palestinians were killed in multiple Israeli attacks in eastern Gaza City, medics said.
At least six of the dead were named militants, including four from the armed wing of the governing Hamas movement, one of the three hardline groups to claim responsibility for the June 25 raid in which Corporal Gilad Shalit was seized.
<...>
Gunfire erupted on the ground as Israel stepped up its nearly five-week offensive after a relative lull that has nonetheless put soldiers back in impoverished Gaza less than 10 months after they ended a 38-year presence.
Security sources reported heavy exchanges of fire as Israeli troops thrust about two kilometres (just over a mile) from the border with Israel.
Apart from six named militants, a three-year-old girl, a male resident and a 17-year-old boy were among the dead, medics said.
Palestinian groups agree deal for return of Israeli Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have agreed to stop firing rockets at Israel and to free a captured Israeli soldier in a deal brokered by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. The deal, agreed on Sunday, is to halt the rocket attacks in return for a cessation of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, and to release Corporal Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured on June 25, in exchange for the freeing of Palestinian prisoners at some point in the future. An adviser to Mr Abbas told the Guardian that all Palestinian politicians were united on the need to free the Israeli soldier and stop all violence in Gaza, but the obstacles were the Israeli government and the Hamas leadership in Damascus.
Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have agreed to stop firing rockets at Israel and to free a captured Israeli soldier in a deal brokered by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.
The deal, agreed on Sunday, is to halt the rocket attacks in return for a cessation of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, and to release Corporal Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured on June 25, in exchange for the freeing of Palestinian prisoners at some point in the future.
An adviser to Mr Abbas told the Guardian that all Palestinian politicians were united on the need to free the Israeli soldier and stop all violence in Gaza, but the obstacles were the Israeli government and the Hamas leadership in Damascus.
It was a passing reference, something like: "tanks moved in, in spite of Abbas's peace proposal".
Otherwise, it seems to be being ignored. Abbas is regarded as a nobody. If Israel sincerely wants a responsible Palestinian interlocutor, why don't they pick up on this proposal? Ignoring it only serves to terminally weaken Abbas's position.
