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Israeli tanks blasted their way into the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis for the first time this morning,Palestinian witnesses said, as heavy fighting raged on the northern edges of Gaza City itself.Shells slammed into Gaza and ground forces edged closer to major population centers, including a U.N. school, taking more civilian lives after Israel declined mounting international calls for an immediate cease-fire on Monday. A Palestinian rocket attack wounded an Israeli infant.In fighting that raged early Tuesday morning, at least 18 people were killed in shelling up and down the Gaza Strip from tanks and naval craft, local hospital officials said. Two of the dead were confirmed as militants.Tanks rumbled closer to the towns of Khan Younis and Dir el Balah in south and central Gaza, witnesses said sounds of fighting could be heard from around the new Israeli positions. Israel already has encircled Gaza City, the area's biggest city.Israel launched its offensive on Dec. 27 in a bid to halt repeated Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern towns. After a weeklong air campaign, Israeli ground forces invaded Gaza over the weekend. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 100 civilians, according to U.N. figures. Nine Israelis have died since the operation began.The rising civilian death toll has drawn international condemnations and raised concerns of a looming humanitarian disaster.Many Gazans are without electricity or running water, thousands have been displaced from their homes and residents say that without distribution disrupted, food supplies are running thin.In one incident overnight, three people were killed when Israel attacked a U.N. school where hundreds had taken shelter."There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized," said John Ging, the top U.N. official in Gaza, blaming the international community for allowing the violence to continue."I am appealing to political leaders here and in the region and the world to get their act together and stop this,"he said,speaking at Gaza's largest hospital."They are responsible for these deaths." In Geneva, the international Red Cross said Gaza was in a "full-blown" humanitarian crisis. Its head of operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, said the few remaining power supplies could collapse at any moment.Israel says it won't stop the assault until its southern towns are freed of the threat of Palestinian rocket fire and it receives international guarantees that Hamas, a militant group backed by Iran and Syria, will not restock its weapons stockpile.It blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, saying the group intentionally seeks cover in crowded residential areas.The army says it has dealt a harsh blow to Hamas, killing 130 militants in the past two days and greatly reducing the rocket fire. At least 15 rockets were fired Tuesday. One landed in the town of Gadera, about 25 miles from the Gaza border, lightly wounding a 3-month-old infant, police said.Israeli forces have cut the main Gaza highway in several places, compartmentalizing the strip into the north, south and Gaza City itself and preventing movement between them. Israel also has taken over high-rise buildings in Gaza City and attacked destroyed dozens of smuggling tunnels-Hamas' main lifeline-along the Egyptian border.Late Monday, a paratroops officer and three Israeli infantrymen were killed in two separate friendly fire incidents, the military said. Heavy Israeli casualties could threaten to undermine what so far has been wide public support for the operation.The international community, on the other hand, has been more cautious, defending Israel's right to defend itself but expressing concern about the rising civilian death toll.A high-level European Union delegation met with President Shimon Peres on Tuesday in a futile bid to put an end to the violence. Commissioner Benita Ferraro-Waldner acknowledged Israel's right to self-defense, but said its response was disproportionate."We have come to Israel in order to advance the initiative for a humanitarian cease-fire and I will tell you, Mr. President, that you have a serious problem with international advocacy, and that Israel's image is being destroyed," she said, according to a statement from Peres' office.She said international relief organizations have complained that there is a serious problem distributing aid in Gaza.In Geneva, the international Red Cross said Gaza was in a "full-blown" humanitarian crisis. Its head of operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, said the few remaining power supplies could collapse at any moment, leaving 500,000 people without clean water and at risk of disease....To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
