IDF operations continued through the night on Monday with heavy shelling of Gaza City as forces push deeper into the densely populated center.
Early Monday evening 2 Grad rockets hit Beersheva and 3 Kassams hit the Eshkol region. A handful of rockets struck southern Israel in Eshkol and Sha'ar Hanegev regions this morning and early afternoon.
The Jerusalem Post's Yaakov Katz reports on
last night's fighting:
Military sources said that the objective of Operation Cast Lead - the weakening of Hamas and the restoration of Israel's level of deterrence - was not yet accomplished, and that Israel would continue its push into Gaza City in an effort to hunt down Hamas operatives and infrastructure.
Sources would not confirm whether the latest effort was the implementation of the so-called "Phase Three" of the operation.
In addition, Palestinian sources reported that Israeli tanks were for the first time since the beginning of the operation taking up positions in Gaza City.
Earlier, four IDF troops were wounded in an explosion in a booby-trapped house overnight Monday during the advance towards the city...
The IDF also reported that 30 Hamas gunmen had been killed in overnight battles on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Elsewhere, two booby-trapped tunnels and a weapons cache were discovered by troops next to the security fence in northern Gaza, the army said.
In another overnight incident in northern Gaza, Hamas gunmen fired at troops from a mosque. The soldiers returned fire and the IAF then bombed themosque's courtyard after spotting the armed men.
Ynet's Hanan Greenberg noted that
one soldier was severely wounded and three others were lightly injured in North Gaza in a friendly-fire incident.
The Jerusalem Post reports that
a Jordanian soldier fired at a border police patrol along the Israel-Jordan border near the Rabin border terminal in Eilat. This was the third such incident to have taken place in 5 days.
On Sunday night,
gunshots were fired from Syria at an IDF vehicle along the Golan border with Syria.
The daily humanitarian pauses continued Tuesday morning between 9 am – 12 pm allowing supply shipments to enter Gaza.
The Jerusalem Post's Yaakov Katz reports on
attempts to smuggle into Gaza contraband disguised as humanitarian supplies through the Keren Shalom crossing:
The electrical goods included computers, infra-red cameras, ovens, microwaves and other electronic equipment.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has forbidden the entry of electronics to Gaza since the goods do not fall under the category of humanitarian aid. Some electronic equipment has been let in as per an official Palestinian request, such as equipment used to repair the damaged electrical grid in Gaza.
