Last update - 02:40 05/03/2008
Clashes erupt as IDF vehicles enter south Gaza
By Yuval Azoulay, Mijal Grinberg and Avi Issacharoff
Some 25 Israel Defense Forces armored vehicles advanced into southern Gaza after nightfall yesterday, and troops clashed with militants, Palestinian witnesses said, just a day after the IDF ended its offensive in northern Gaza against Palestinian rocket squads.
The Palestinians said the armored column entered Gaza through the Kissufim crossing. Israeli defense officials said it was a pinpoint operation targeting Gaza militants. Helicopters circled overhead near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis as IDF soldiers surrounded the home of a militant. The Hamas-allied Islamic Jihad movement said the man was a leader of its armed wing.
IDF tanks reportedly fired shells while the fighter helicopters fired missiles. A one-month-old baby girl was killed by a ricocheting bullet, Gazan medical officials said. Also, six militants and three civilians were wounded, none of then seriously, the officials said.
An IDF spokeswoman confirmed there was a military operation under way in Gaza and that a senior figure in Islamic Jihad, Yusuf Samiri, had been killed.
Earlier yesterday, two Palestinian militants were killed in two separate IAF strikes on the Gaza Strip, shortly after a Qassam rocket scored a direct hit on a house in the western Negev town of Sderot.
The IDF said the strikes, which were carried out north of Jabalya and east of Gaza City, targeted militants who were engaged in firing Qassam rockets at Israel.
One of the militants was identified as Ayman Cahouji, a member of Hamas.
No injuries were reported in the rocket attack on Sderot, but the building, which was empty at the time, sustained severe damage.
Meanwhile, Israel allowed dozens of trucks carrying food and medical supply to enter the Strip yesterday through Kerem Shalom Crossing.
Three truckloads were donated by the Jordanian government, and another two were ordered by the Palestinian health minister from the Teva pharmaceutical conglomerate.
Siren replaces Color Red in Ashkelon
A wailing siren will now be heard in Ashkelon every time a rocket is fired at the southern city from the Gaza Strip, instead of the Color Red alert system previously installed to warn against imminent strikes.
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai yesterday decided to replace the existing system after receiving several complaints from Ashkelon residents who said they did not hear the Color Red alert prior to rocket strikes on the city.
Also yesterday, censorship was lifted on the fact that a Katyusha rocket fired in recent days from the Gaza Strip struck near the home of Public Security Minister Avi Dichter in Ashkelon.