As Gaza operations entered their 21st day, four rockets hit areas of Eshkol region, two more struck Ofakim near mid-day and IDF paratroopers and armored corps personnel killed 3 Gaza terrorists after they attacked the soldiers shortly before dawn.
On Thursday afternoon, 2 Grad rockets hit Beersheva injuring 6, including a 7 year old boy wounded seriously by shrapnel penetrating his skull from a rocket and his mother. 17 people were treated for shock resulting from the rocket attacks. This brought the rocket count for Thursday to 25.
Late Thursday morning,
after receiving fire from Hamas operatives at the UNRWA compound in Gaza City, the IDF responded firing 7 IDF shells at the location. The Jerusalem Post's Tovah Lazaroff reports:
As of Thursday night, the IDF... officials privately said IDF troops from the Givati Brigade had come under anti-tank fire from gunmen standing next to the compound.
The officials said the IDF had responded by firing artillery shells at the gunmen and that it appeared that one of the shells had accidentally hit a UN warehouse, setting it afire.
On Thursday afternoon,
an IAF air strike killed Hamas Interior Minister Said Siam:
Siam was the Hamas political echelon's liaison with the group's military wing, and was responsible for the various security apparatuses in the Strip, including the police and the naval force.
Siam was considered a radical and was in contact with Hamas's political leadership in Damascus. He was also considered close to Iranian officials.
Siam was one of the masterminds of Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.
Salah Abu Shrakh, the head of the Hamas general security service, was also killed in the air strike.
Siam was the most senior Hamas man to be killed in almost three weeks of fighting. Hamas confirmed that Siam was killed with his brother and son. According to Palestinian reports, Mahmoud Watfa, one of the commanders of the Hamas military wing, was also killed in the strike.
The IDF Spokesperson reported on
operations overnight on Thursday:
In one incident, a ground force identified a mortar launching squad launching a rocket at Israel and directed aerial forces that attacked the squad, reporting a direct hit.
The IAF attacked approximately 40 targets in Gaza overnight, including:
- A mosque used as a weapons storage facility that housed a tunnel
- A house of a Hamas terror operative
- Six squads of armed gunmen
- Four tunnels
- Eight launching sites, including one in which an armed launcher was
destroyed
- Three weapons storage facilities, including a structure in a Hamas training camp
- A number of explosive devices
- Two Hamas outposts
- Additional targets as assistance to ground forces
The Israeli Navy continued to support ground forces operating in Gaza,
striking Hamas targets while it continues to enforce the naval blockade in the area.
Seventy five trucks loaded with humanitarian aid are expected to be
transferred via the Kerem Shalom crossing. An additional sixty trucks are expected to be transferred via the Karni crossing, as well as fuel via the Nahal Oz fuel terminal.
In addition to the above, 7 Palestinians were arrested during overnight operations in Gaza.
