Day 11 of Operation Cast Lead saw some of the heaviest fighting yet in Gaza.
On Monday night, 3 soldiers died and 24 others were wounded in North Gaza from "friendly fire" when a tank shell destroyed a house that they were using for cover. A fourth soldier, an IDF officer from the Paratroopers Brigade was also killed overnight during operations in the northern Gaza Strip. The IDF is investigating the possibility of another "friendly fire" incident.
As Hamas continued to launch Kassam and Grad rockets at towns and urban areas in Southern Israel, 80 trucks carrying "humanitarian supplies" made their way into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
By 1 PM on Tuesday, the number of terrorist rockets falling in the south, while down from previous days, nonetheless hit 20.
The Jerusalem Post's Yaakov Katz reports on the IDF's response to mortar fire at troops coming from a UN-run school in the town of Jabalya in northern Gaza, as well as other war news:
The IDF issued a statement saying the school grounds were used by terrorists to fire mortar shells at the troops. According to the IDF, among the dead were members of a Hamas launching cell...
The infantrymen returned mortar shell fire into the school grounds, the army said. Defense officials told The Associated Press that booby-trapped bombs in the school triggered the secondary explosions which killed scores of Palestinians on the site.
Apparently this is not the first time that terrorists have used the school as a shield for their activities. Here is a video of terrorists firing mortars at Israel from the same location in 2007:
Also on Tuesday, the IAF struck the home of one of the founders of Hamas's rocket division on Tuesday morning, as Operation Cast Lead entered its eleventh day.
The IDF said that the terror chief, Iman Siam, was in his house at the time of the air strike in the Jabalya neighborhood of northern Gaza.
The army said that in addition to being a founder of Hamas's rocket launching program, Siam was also the head of the group's artillery program throughout the Gaza Strip.
At least 10 Hamas and Islamic Jihad gunmen were killed in other Gaza battles early Tuesday, the IDF said. Palestinians put the number of fatalities at 25.
In central Gaza, the navy fired on targets in Deir al-Balah and in the El-Bureij refugee camp.
There was also fighting in Jabalya and in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City.
Paratroopers operating near the town of El-Atatra discovered on Tuesday a booby-trapped doll at the entrance to a smuggling tunnel. The doll was safely dismantled.
In an overnight clash, paratroopers operating near El-Atatra spotted a suicide bomber and opened fire on him. The shooting triggered his explosive belt, which killed him when it detonated. One soldier was lightly wounded in the incident.
The IDF announced that it had conducted over 30 sorties during overnight operations late Monday and early Tuesday.
Elsewhere, a booby-trapped house was bombed. The IDF believed that under the house were a number of smuggling tunnels.
