WarSclerotic

DF begins ground operation in the Gaza Strip

Palestinians report three people have been killed in heavy artillery firing at northern Gaza, including one child;

IAF resumes strikes after end of humanitarian ceasefire

Ynet reporters, AFPLatest Update: 07.17.14, 22:44 / Israel News

via IDF begins ground operation in the Gaza Strip – Israel News, Ynetnews.

 

IDF forces began a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip on Thursday night, as Israel made good on the next stage of the operation, which it warned would happen if the rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled area did not stop.

The incursion signals a new stage in the IDF’s Operation Protective Edge, which began 10 days ago in the face of the ongoing rocket barrages on southern communities. Since the start of the operation, militants in the Strip have expanded their targets to include areas of central Israel, with Tel Aviv and Jerusalem coming under fire, along with Holon, Bat Yam, Rishon Lezion and Yavne.

The ground operation began with heavy artillery shelling of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinians, three people have been killed in the artillery attack, including one child.

 

The army fired numerous flares to light up the night sky over the Strip, and the IAF increased its aerial strikes, while attack helicopters were circling the northern Gaza sky. The Navy fired several shells from the sea.

 

IDF firing flares over Gaza (Photo: Ido Erez)

 

Residents living near the Gaza border have been instructed to enter bomb shelters and safe room.

Loud explosions were heard along the Gaza border. Israelis living in the area near the border said they noticed the flying shells, and that the army fire was more intense than in previous days.

A heavy barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip was fired at southern and central Israel. The Iron Dome intercepted seven rockets over the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

The security cabinet was scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss the Gaza operation.

The artillery shelling started after over 100 rockets were fired at Israel in the five hours since the humanitarian ceasefire ended at 3pm.

The Palestinians said earlier that six people had been killed in IAF airstrikes that resumed following the five-hour humanitarian pause asked by the UN.

The IAF attacked 30 terror targets across the Gaza Strip following the halt in fire, including a weapons manufacturing site, 10 hidden rocket launchers and 11 terror targets.

Three children from the same family were killed in an Israeli strike in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City on Thursday afternoon. Three other members of the family were wounded.

 

The bodies of the three children Palestinians claim were killed in IAF strike.

 

A four-year-old girl was killed in an IAF strike in Khan Younis.

A man was killed at a 4:35pm strike in Beit Hanoun, and four Palestinians were wounded in a strike at eastern al-Bureij refugee camp.

Before the ceasefire took effect at 10am, Israeli tank fire killed three men in their twenties in the southern city of Rafah, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP.

The Rafah deaths came after another seven people were killed overnight.

Two men were killed in Gaza City, another two in Deir al-Balah and a fifth in northern Beit Lahiya.

One man was also killed in southern Khan Yunis and another in Rafah, Qudra said.

The Palestinians report that the death toll so far in Operation Protective Edge has risen to 236 people, while over 1,700 were wounded. According to figures provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), more than 80 percent of the conflict’s victims have been civilians.

So far during Operation Protective Edge, Israel has struck more than 1,750 terror targets across the coastal enclave, the army said.

Yoav Zitun, Ahiya Raved, Roi Kais and Nimdor Semel contributed to this report.

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