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Operation Cast Lead

Day 19 - Wednesday 14 January 2009

Violence in Gaza continues as Israeli troops are pushing further into the city, with street fights raging in several suburbs. The U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, is heading to Egypt to push for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Both sides have up until now resisted calls from the UN. Israeli military insist the operation will continue until Hamas rocket fire and arms smuggling into Gaza are stopped. While the Hamas leaders say they are "approaching victory".

Israeli war planes struck 60 targets on Palestinian territory on Tuesday. In return, 14 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel. Some of the attacks took place during a humanitarian ceasefire that is implemented for three hours each day to allow the humanitarian aid reach Gaza. Among the terrorist sites that were hit were the Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City, approximately 35 weaponry smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, an area rigged with explosive devices intended for detonation against IDF forces, and nine weaponry manufacturing and storage facilities.

Israel bombed southern Gaza on Wednesday aiming to destroy tunnels to Egypt while its troops continued ground operations in the north of the enclave. The main focus of the aerial bombardment is the so-called Philadelphia corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, where Israel wants to destroy tunnels it says are used to smuggle weapons and ammunition to Palestinian militants. Israel's military said it hit 35 tunnels on the Gaza side overnight and 55 tunnels on Tuesday saying it needs to stop the arms smuggling to win the war. Some 200 contraband tunnels are believed to have been destroyed so far. In one incident, the IAF targeted a mortar shell launching squad in the area of Shuja'iya and identified hitting three armed terror operatives and the launcher from which mortar shells had been fired to Israeli territory.

During a search on Tuesday night (Jan.13), two IDF officers were moderately wounded and another officer and three additional soldiers were lightly injured when they were fired upon by armed terrorists. The forces responded with precise fire and identified hitting the assailants. The casualties received initial medical treatment on the scene and were evacuated by a helicopter to receive further medical treatment at a hospital. Another IDF soldier was lightly injured in a different incident and evacuated to the hospital for medical treatment.

Israel Navy boats also continued to support the Ground Forces, as they targeted Hamas terrorist sites in the Gaza Strip. In addition, the Israel Navy continues to enforce the naval closure of the Gaza Strip."

Israeli troops opened fire on southern Lebanon on Wednesday in response to rockets fired from Lebanese territory, an army spokesman said. "We returned fire at the source [of the rocket launches]," the spokesman said. He confirmed that several rockets launched from Lebanon on Wednesday had hit northern Israel. "We have no information about damage or casualties," the spokesman said. Israel believes a small Palestinian group active in south Lebanon is responsible for the attacks, rather than Shiite militia Hezbollah, which has denied involvement. Israeli authorities consider the launches separate incidents and do not regard them as a threat of a new front in addition to Gaza, where Israel launched a major offensive three weeks ago against the Islamic movement Hamas.

Israel has not felt any serious international pressure that would force it to halt its military operations in the Gaza Strip, the country's foreign minister told Russian news agencies on Wednesday. "Most of the demands and requests that I get are to do with the humanitarian situation and Israel is trying to take humanitarian needs into consideration during its military operations," Tzipi Livni said.

At least four Palestinians, including three gunmen, were killed by Israel on Wednesday, while six Israeli military were injured overnight. A total of 13 Israelis, including three civilians, have been killed since the start of the Gaza operation. The death toll in Gaza since December 27, when Israel first launched airstrikes on the enclave, is reported to have risen to over 920, with half of the dead civilians, while more than 4,000 have been injured. 90.000 Palestinians have fled their homes becoming refugees. Israel confirms death of 14 its citizens.