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Israeli troops deepen push into Gaza

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-06 18:42

GAZA - Israeli forces pressed closer and into cities in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday despite new international calls for a ceasefire in an 11-day-old conflict in which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.

Palestinian relatives of Hamas militant Mohammed Abu Shair, who was killed in an Israeli air strike, mourn during his funeral in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip January 5, 2009. [Agencies]

Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces moved into Khan Younis in southern Gaza as the army widened the ground assault it launched four days ago against Hamas militants after a week of air strikes failed to stamp out cross-border rocket fire.

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There was intense fighting overnight on the outskirts of the city of Gaza, where residents huddled indoors in fear. Deaths recorded by Palestinian medics reached 564.

Most of several dozen deaths reported by hospitals in recent days have been civilians, apparently because dead militants remain on the battlefield. The Israeli military said it had killed 130 militants since Saturday -- an indication that the total Palestinian death toll since December 27 may be close to 700.

Israel's military said three soldiers were killed and 24 were wounded on Monday when an Israeli tank fired at a building in northern Gaza that they had occupied in fighting against the Islamist Hamas group, which seized control of Gaza in 2007.

The "friendly fire" incident caused the military's highest casualty toll since Israel launched its offensive. Eight Israelis, including four civilians hit in Palestinian rocket attacks, have been killed in the conflict.

Palestinian medics said 18 Palestinian civilians were killed on Tuesday, including 10 people who were hit by naval shells along the beach in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the assault could get harder for troops. Hamas, vowing to fight on in every street and alley, threatened to fire more rockets across into Israel.

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