Israeli troops close in on Gaza City

Amsterdam News.Net
Monday 5th January, 2009

Middle Eastern reports have placed Israeli troops in the outskirts of Gaza City.

On Monday, dozens of people died in heavy clashes around the Gaza City enclave in large explosions and heavy exchanges of fire.

Israel has pressed its campaign to halt Hamas rocket attacks by pushing into the eastern part of Gaza City, where ten Israeli soldiers were killed in the clashes.

The Islamic Jihad movement has said several of its members were also killed in the fighting.

Many parts of Gaza City have been blacked out with Israeli fighter jets pounding the infrastructure in the area.

The Israeli Air Force carried out more than 30 air strikes across Gaza during Monday, with the main targets being a mosque and homes containing large caches of arms.

Israeli naval ships were also placed just off the coast to assist in the Gaza engagement.

The Israeli strikes reportedly killed 50 Palestinians on Monday, including 14 children.

Gaza’s hospitals have been overstretched with emergency services reporting injuries to more than 2,700 people.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has told parliament the Hamas war should go on, saying while the military had hit Hamas hard, it had not yet reached all the goals set for the operation.

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