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Last update - 22:40 05/01/2009
Israeli troops trade heavy fire with Hamas gunmen in northern Gaza
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press
Tags: israel news, gaza, hamas 

Israel Defense Forces infantry units engaged in heavy exchanges of fire with armed Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip Monday evening. The IDF unleashed massive artillery fire to provide cover for soldiers who are penetrating deeper into the coastal territory.

Israel Air Force war jets on Monday evening struck dozens of southern Gaza tunnels used by Hamas militants to smuggle weaponry into the strip from Egypt. The tunnels, along the Philadelphi route which runs parallel to the Gaza-Egypt border, have been a frequent target for Israel Air Force strikes since the start of Operation Cast Lead 10 days ago.


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Earlier Monday, an IDF officer and five soldiers sustained light to moderate wounds in clashes between Israeli ground troops and Hamas militants in eastern Gaza, near the border with Israel.

Clashes also took place in Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, while the Israel Air Force struck some 30 targets overnight.

Channel Two reported on Monday evening that the total number of armed Palestinians killed in gunbattles with the IDF reached 100.

The IDF said that the targets hit overnight included a mosque used for storing weapons, an underground bunker in Gaza City stocked with explosives which set off secondary explosions, a number of Hamas-operated tunnels near Rafah in the southern Strip, a rocket launcher, four homes of militants, and a suspected anti-aircraft missile.

Hamas militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and mortars at advancing Israeli tanks before dawn. Explosions could be heard in Gaza City as aircraft attacked buildings.

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    'With total determination'
    Widow of IDF soldier killed Monday remembers her fallen hero.
    Echoes of Gaza
    Protests against Gaza op worldwide have had a hateful, violent tone.
      1.   To Israel, IDF and its leaders 02:36  |  Matthew 05/01/09
      2.   Trisected And Disected 03:57  |  Jeff Northridge 05/01/09
      3.   "IDF slices Gaza into three".. 04:41  |  Silvienne 05/01/09
      4.   No more Qassams! 08:46  |  Jean Van Daem 05/01/09
      5.   "It breaks my heart to see Israel`s stupidity" 10:10  |  Clickfool 05/01/09
      6.   Victory 10:19  |  ShinAe Kim 05/01/09
      7.   well done israel 10:47  |  enough is enough 05/01/09
      8.   God Bless Israel 10:49  |  God Bless Ashdod 05/01/09
      9.   believe me All this media Garbage 10:50  |  Jeff 05/01/09
      10.   How do you ever negotiate with these madmen 10:53  |  we protect our peopl 05/01/09
      11.   Bankrupt police 11:19  |  thomas 05/01/09
      12.   VIVA GAZA 12:18  |  shlomo 05/01/09
      13.   Unfortunate Losses 13:15  |  Baruch Gold 05/01/09
      14.   Michael Lerner is right, but 13:22  |  Swedish judge 05/01/09
      15.   VIVA ISRAEL 13:31  |  Abdullah 05/01/09
      16.   Clickfool is wrong as is Lerner 14:34  |  Ehud 05/01/09
      17.   For Ehud # 10 15:00  |  Clickfool 05/01/09
      18.   I dont remember, Why Peres won nobel prize? 15:22  |  kaled 05/01/09
      19.   To: Swedish judge 15:47  |  Angel 05/01/09
      20.   to Sewdish Judge 16:31  |  David Schiby 05/01/09
      21.   Hide hide hide 17:05  |  Atoo 05/01/09
      22.   #11 Swedish Judge---well said but Naive 18:52  |  Labhras 05/01/09
      23.   to 12 19:04  |  Gad Elyahu 05/01/09
      24.   How do Hamas get the rockets to the tunnels? 19:08  |  Michael 05/01/09
      25.   thank you, israel, and i say so as a Palestinian. hamas has been 19:09  |  Fuad 05/01/09
      26.   to #12 19:18  |  Maurice 05/01/09
      27.   #8 Swedish Judge - Stockholm 19:20  |  *BEN JABO 05/01/09
      28.   #12 Atoo 19:23  |  H 05/01/09
      29.   DELETED BY MODERATOR 19:33  |  Arie 05/01/09
      30.   Israel should dig a CHANNEL along the border with Egypt. 19:36  |  Vittorio 05/01/09
      31.   Do Egyptians HATE Gazans? 19:37  |  Rick & TC 05/01/09
      32.   Hard to believe 19:40  |  Mike 05/01/09
      33.   You can`t take out tunnels from the air typical olmert 19:48  |  Jason 05/01/09
      34.   Kadima and Labor aren`t allowing ground troops into gaza city 19:53  |  Seth 05/01/09
      35.   Taking back Philadelphi Corridor the only solution 20:01  |  Sam. 05/01/09
      36.   DELETED BY MODERATOR 20:08  |  Dr. L.Brnd 05/01/09
      37.   Go IDF!! 20:14  |  Pro-Israel 05/01/09
      38.   If Gaza civilians were indeed not the target 20:19  |  Marcelo 05/01/09
      39.   GOD BLESS ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!! 20:42  |  dave 05/01/09
      40.   Israel is terrorist 20:50  |  NIl 05/01/09
      41.   What a Shame 20:53  |  Paul 05/01/09
      42.   #16 20:55  |  PJ DU PREEZ 05/01/09
      43.   Clickfool, you have nothing at stake 20:55  |  Theodor 05/01/09
      44.   American 20:59  |  NASIM 05/01/09
      45.   Journalist 21:05  |  Etto 05/01/09
      46.   too bad Lerner and #2 21:07  |  Paul Freedman 05/01/09
      47.   Israeli policy 21:07  |  David Lieberman 05/01/09
      48.   To Mike #15 21:11  |  Petero 05/01/09
      49.   VIVA PALESTINE 21:15  |  Antonio da Silva 05/01/09
      50.   Long history but short memory 21:15  |  Tarek USA 05/01/09
      51.   Nasim 21:15  |  dan 05/01/09
      52.   To Etto # 29 21:26  |  dan 05/01/09
      53.   Not letting in the Journalists.... 21:39  |  Palesitnian Brit 05/01/09
      54.   Rick & TC 18 21:43  |  ChanahS 05/01/09
      55.   Etto 29 - to protect the lives of Israeli soldiers 21:49  |  ChanahS 05/01/09
      56.   Hamas` money... 23:21  |  EVH 05/01/09
      57.   Gaza 23:28  |  Muhamad abdul 05/01/09
      58.   Micheal lerner is a fake rabbi with a mail-order "ordination"? 23:30  |  Mark Lincoln 05/01/09
      59.   Heavy Firewith Hamas 23:36  |  lenny f 05/01/09
      60.   Troops trading fire 23:44  |  lenny f 05/01/09
      61.   Tsahal vs Muslims 00:01  |  h.abdelahad 06/01/09
      62.   IDF must continue to prevent reporters enter in Gaza!!! 00:09  |  vedar 06/01/09
      63.   Jeff Northridge #2 01:59  |  Peter Williams 06/01/09
      64.   Hamas is loosing 01:59  |  Swedish peace lover 06/01/09
      65.   Victory? #62 02:00  |  Al 06/01/09
      66.   #53 Palestinian Brit 12:47  |  *BEN JABO 07/01/09
     Read & React
    Bradley Burston / A Jew's prayer for the children of Gaza
    Responses: 23
    IDF: Shelled UN school in Gaza used as hideout by Hamas
    Responses: 68
    ANALYSIS / Using aggressive tactics in Gaza to save soldiers' lives
    Responses: 15
    Venezuela's Chavez: Gaza operation is a Palestinian 'holocaust'
    Responses: 15
    Amira Hass: Lucky my parents aren't alive to see Israel bomb Gaza
    Responses: 15


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