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Heavy fighting as Israeli troops enter Gaza

— PHOTOS: AFP

UPROOTED BY BATTLES: Israeli troops step up their operation against Hamas militants, penetrating deep into the Gaza on Sunday.

DUBAI: Israeli ground troops backed by tanks and helicopters are engaged in heavy fighting with Hamas militants as the Gaza conflict entered its ninth day on Sunday.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has warned that the ground campaign might be a lengthy one. “It won’t be easy. It won’t be short,” he said. He reiterated that Israel’s military objective was to end rocket strikes originating from Gaza.

As Israeli forces approach the heavily populated towns and cities, fears of a further deterioration of the already alarming humanitarian situation in the coastal strip are looming. The combat between Hamas and Israeli forces in the heavily built up areas could soon take the shape of classic urban guerilla warfare, say analysts.

So far, it appears that Israeli military is advancing along a line that could split the Gaza into two, with the northern Gaza Strip including Gaza city separated from the rest of the coastal strip.

Frantic families leave the city after it was rattled by booming explosions.

The Israelis began their incursion on Saturday night, and preceded their attack with heavy artillery shelling into Gaza. There have been conflicting figures about the casualties suffered by combatants so far. The Ezzeddine brigades of Hamas have said in a statement on Sunday they have killed nine Israeli soldiers and captured two.

An Israeli Merkava tank has also been destroyed.

Israel, on its part, has said 30 of its soldiers were wounded, with two sustaining serious injuries. On the claim of the capture of its two soldiers, an Israeli military spokesperson said “the report is being checked.” Despite the incursion and relentless air strikes, the Hamas has continued to fire rockets inside Israeli territory. On Sunday, 25 rockets smashed into southern Israel, with one injuring a woman in Sderot. The Israeli ground offensive has aggravated the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Out of the 32 Palestinians killed in overnight attacks, five were fighters and the rest civilians, said Palestinian hospital staff. At lease five civilians were killed and 40 wounded when tank shells exploded in Gaza City’s main shopping area. At least 25 per cent of Palestinians killed during Israel’s massive offensive in the Gaza Strip have been civilians, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees has said. A doctor working for Red Crescent in a northern Gaza hospital has been quoted as saying: “Civilians are being killed...shells are severing people’s legs, shrapnel is going into people’s bodies and into people’s homes, a lot of people are being cut down. Everyone is terrified.”

Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council failed to agree on a Libyan draft calling for an immediate halt to fighting mainly on account of U.S. objections. In the region, Iran’s head of the National Security Council, Syed Jalili has concluded his visit to Syria.

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