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Jan. 4: Explosions from Israeli fire rain down over the northern Gaza Strip.(AP)Israeli forces seized control of high-rise buildings and attacked houses, mosques and smuggling tunnels in pressing its offensive against the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers on Monday, as a stream of European leaders headed to the region to push for a truce.Hamas lobbed more than two dozen rockets at Southern Israel and promised to wait for Israeli soldiers "in every street and every alleyway," even as a delegation from the Islamic militant group traveled to Cairo, where Egypt was expected to demand an immediate cease-fire from Hamas.Israel's bruising campaign entered its 10th day Monday, which Israel's foreign minister said marked a new equation in the Middle East."Before the military operation, Hamas targets Israelis whenever it likes and Israel shows restraint," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told EU foreign ministers. "This is no longer going to be the equation. When Israel is targeted, Israel is going to retaliate."Livni said the incursion into Gaza represented the "fight against extremism and terror" in the Middle East, even as Syria's foreign minister decried the attack as "barbaric" and Turkey's prime minister called the campaign an "inhuman" act.Mauritania recalled its ambassador in Tel Aviv for "consultations" following violent anti-Israel protests in Mauritania's capital, but many more diplomats were flooding the region Monday for talks, including an EU delegation with representatives from France, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the EU's own foreign foreign policy chief, Javier Solana.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the campaign would continue until Israel achieved "peace and tranquility" for residents of southern Israel, who continued to be bombarded by Palestinian rocket and mortar fire. Gaza's Hamas strongman urged Palestinians to "crush" the invading Israeli forces and target Israeli civilians.Gaza health officials reported 537 dead and more than 2,000 wounded since Israel embarked upon its military campaign against Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers on Dec. 27. Some 200 civilians were among the dead, they said.Israeli forces seized sparsely populated areas in northern Gaza and by Monday morning were dug in on the edges of Gaza City. Further movement into the heart of the built-up areas would mean deadly urban warfare, with house-to-house fighting, sniper fire and booby traps in crowded streets and alleyways familiar to Hamas' 20,000 fighters.Israeli forces have been training in a mock Arab city for more than two years to prepare them for the type of urban warfare they would encounter in Gaza, military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said."They are prepared, if necessary," to enter Gaza's cities, Leibovich said. She wouldn't disclose whether troops would definitely enter Gaza's cities....
The Associated Press and Times of London contributed to this report.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the campaign would continue until Israel achieved "peace and tranquility" for residents of southern Israel, who continued to be bombarded by Palestinian rocket and mortar fire. Gaza's Hamas strongman urged Palestinians to "crush" the invading Israeli forces and target Israeli civilians.Gaza health officials reported 537 dead and more than 2,000 wounded since Israel embarked upon its military campaign against Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers on Dec. 27. Some 200 civilians were among the dead, they said.Israeli forces seized sparsely populated areas in northern Gaza and by Monday morning were dug in on the edges of Gaza City. Further movement into the heart of the built-up areas would mean deadly urban warfare, with house-to-house fighting, sniper fire and booby traps in crowded streets and alleyways familiar to Hamas' 20,000 fighters.Israeli forces have been training in a mock Arab city for more than two years to prepare them for the type of urban warfare they would encounter in Gaza, military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said."They are prepared, if necessary," to enter Gaza's cities, Leibovich said. She wouldn't disclose whether troops would definitely enter Gaza's cities....
The Associated Press and Times of London contributed to this report.
As in the days of Noah...
