International   

Stiff resistance to Israeli incursion

Atul Aneja

Gaza hospitals flooded with casualties

DUBAI: Israeli forces reinforced their incursion into northern Gaza with two air strikes on Friday amid calls by Palestinian leaders for resistance and international intervention.

In the daybreak attack, one Palestinian militant affiliated with Hamas was killed while three others were wounded.

On Thursday, Israeli troops had intruded into northern Gaza, killing 24 Palestinian armed men, marking the highest number of casualties in single day since a previous attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in September 2004.

Hamas in battlefront

For the first time after their unilateral withdrawal last year, Israeli troops entered the towns of Beit Hanoun and Biet Lahiya. Most of the fighting was concentrated in a 1-km stretch of orchards and built-up area in Biet Lahiya. Palestinian fighters offered stiff resistance to the advancing tanks, that were backed by air support from Apache helicopters and fighter jets.

The Palestinians, mostly Hamas fighters, used mines, rocket propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles to retard the incursion. An Israeli soldier who had been shot in the head by a sniper, died after heavy firing by Palestinian guerillas delayed his evacuation to hospital.

Among the Palestinians, a large number died due to multiple air strikes, which were called in to support ground troops engaged in heavy fighting with the Palestinians.

Scores of fighters, including civilians, were injured in the clashes and hospitals were flooded with casualties. Gaza was facing a humanitarian crisis after the disruption of power supply following an air strike on the main power station on June 28. The damage to the power station has had a cascading effect, which has also hampered hospital services, including surgery.

Israeli authorities claimed that they have entered northern Gaza to curb the firing of rockets by the Palestinian militant groups.

On visiting Gaza hospitals on Thursday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Israel wanted to bring his Government down. He called for international intervention and described the Israeli offensive as a "crime against humanity".

Simultaneously, Interior Minister Said Siyam, also from Hamas, called for united resistance to the Israeli advance. He urged all the security forces, which can be deployed only with the concurrence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to resist "this treacherous invasion and aggression".

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Stiff resistance to Israeli incursion
All but two offences by Pakistan women bailable
U.K. fears more bombings
Rift between UNP, Rajapakse widens
Online philately, the new fad
Soccer fever grips Tibet monks
Super rice varieties
47 die in China blast
Conservative wins poll
Pakistan: no word on India seeking `urgent' meeting

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu