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A mother picking her daughter up from a school in Sderot on Thursday after a Qassam rocket strikes nearby. (Limor Edrey)
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Last update - 21:54 20/12/2007
IDF soldier seriously hurt, seven militants killed in Gaza raid
By Avi Issacharoff, Mijal Grinberg and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies
Tags: IDF, Gaza Strip 

At least seven Palestinian militants were killed and an Israel Defense Forces soldier seriously wounded Thursday as IDF tanks and troops raided the central Gaza Strip in an effort to stem the continuing Qassam rocket fire at the western Negev.

The soldier was wounded when Palestinian militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the troops.

Four additional troops were lightly wounded in the incident, and the seriously wounded soldier was evacuated by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.
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A total of three rockets struck the western Negev on Thursday, including one that hit near an elementary school in the western Negev city of Sderot. A student at the school was treated for shock.

According to the IDF, troops entered the Gaza Strip early Thursday, and penetrated some two kilometers into the Strip, east of the Maghazi refugee camp. During the operation, soldiers fired on a group of gunmen, killing four and wounding several others.

Three of the militants were identified as Hamas members Walid Kelab, Mahmoud Al-Meskhal, and Naim Al-Aruki. The fourth militant was identified as Jihad Jaber, a member of Islamic Jihad.

In a later incident, three Islamic Jihad militants were killed: Samar Abu Sif, Hamza Abu Tiyur, and Khalil Al-Isawi.

At least 12 other Palestinians were wounded in the fighting, including a 7-year-old boy and a Reuters Television soundman, Nihad Odehtallah.

The news agency said it was unclear whether Odehtallah was hit by Israeli or Palestinian fire, and that he was taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment.

An IDF spokesman described the raid as "a routine operation against terrorist threats."

Sderot child treated for shock after Qassam hits near school

Two rockets struck open fields Thursday morning and caused no injuries or damage. A third Qassam rocket hit near the grounds of an elementary school in the western Negev city of Sderot.

One school child was treated for shock, and adjacent houses suffered damage. The Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the attack.

In amateur video of the rocket attack, taken from inside the school, the sound of the explosion is clearly heard. Children scream and cry as a teacher tries to round them up and guide them to a safe location.

Elias Gabay, a security guard at the school, said that at the time of the strike "one of the classes was conducting an activity outside. All of a sudden, we heard the siren. I ran with the children to the concrete slab [used as a shelter], and then we heard the boom and saw the smoke."

"Some of the children started to cry and then there was a rush of parents, who came to the school to pick up their children," he said.

The chairman of the school's Parents' Association, Danny Lazmi, said over 60 percent of the parents had taken their children home following the attack. He added that the association was working closely with the school in order to call parents and try to calm them down.

Bita Kugis, who lives nearby and was at home at the time of the attack, said "I heard the 'Red Color' [Qassam warning alert] but I don't have a safe room in the house, so I went into the bathroom."

Kugis said she had to be medicated in order to calm down after the strike, and that she was treated by municipal social workers.

Some of the homes in the area had cracks and broken windows after the explosion.

Also Thursday, Palestinians militants fired four mortar shells at the Kissufim Crossing. There were no injuries or damage in that attack.

Israel this week stepped up ground and air operations against Islamic Jihad, which has spearheaded cross-border rocket attacks from Gaza into Israeli communities.

On Monday, the IDF launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip which continued into Tuesday and left 11 Islamic Jihad and Hamas militants dead.

Thursday's clash came a day after Israel rejected a feeler from Hamas for a truce that would see Palestinian militants end their rocket fire from Gaza in return for a halt to IDF military operations.

Defense officials said Thursday, however, that Israel was examining the offer, adding that Hamas gave assurances it could impose the truce on other militant factions.

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      1.   "A Routine Operation" 10:53  |  Clickfool 20/12/07
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      6.   Yep, Israel Has Really Gotten It Right! 12:13  |  Yaakov Sullivan 20/12/07
      7.   to quick full #1 12:31  |  rico 20/12/07
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      10.   Israel bashers have the facts wrong as usual 12:40  |  Maurice 20/12/07
      11.   #4 James Sullivan 12:41  |  Yonatan 20/12/07
      12.   Rocket hits Negev school and Olmert fiddles! 12:49  |  redmike 20/12/07
      13.   to blind fool 12:49  |  harry 20/12/07
      14.   Israeli government unwilling to defend Israel 13:05  |  Jonathan S 20/12/07
      15.   Thank you Jonathan and a Merry Christmas to you #11 13:15  |  Yaakov Sullivan 20/12/07
      16.   what people don`t say 13:30  |  Murray 20/12/07
      17.   SULLIVAN 14:03  |  Brant 20/12/07
      18.   The beauty of Israel`s strategy 14:07  |  Jeffrey 20/12/07
      19.   The best business in Gaza....funerals 14:19  |  maurice 20/12/07
      20.   4 new 6 feet under 14:20  |  Jean 20/12/07
      21.   #15 James Sullivan - Thanks but no thanks 14:44  |  Yonatan 20/12/07
      22.   #10 Maurice .. Trade places and let Israel be satisfied with Gaza 14:55  |  Natallie Durson 20/12/07
      23.   Go ahead! 15:15  |  Vital 20/12/07
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      25.   #22 Natalie Durson - illegitimate cause 15:28  |  Yonatan 20/12/07
      26.   #22 15:30  |  mo 20/12/07
      27.   The Fool that is Clickfool 15:35  |  Honest Observation 20/12/07
      28.   Equality - Stop Raiding Gaza 15:47  |  Straight Talk 20/12/07
      29.   To Dutch No. 24 15:47  |  Andre Diasparra 20/12/07
      30.   #25 Yonatan: My answer: N.Durson is a plain anti-Semite. 15:56  |  Vittorio 20/12/07
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      32.   Natallie Durson 15:58  |  Nephtaly 20/12/07
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      36.   was christ and antisemite? self hating jew? 16:24  |  mohammed 20/12/07
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      38.   clickfool, natalie, dutch 16:31  |  Mike 20/12/07
      39.   Palestinian Brit-#33 16:32  |  Honest Observation 20/12/07
      40.   to 33, Thanks Hamas, there will never be... 16:37  |  maurice 20/12/07
      41.   # 6 16:39  |  zayda 20/12/07
      42.   Palestinian Brit, 33, It is up to the Palestinian people not just 16:45  |  The Equalizer 20/12/07
      43.   Uh Dutch - #31 - a wee error 16:46  |  Jay A Friedman 20/12/07
      44.   Clickfool (3rd attempt) 16:55  |  Nik "Banned" Miller 20/12/07
      45.   Brant, I dont know if theeir is an answer 16:58  |  Yaakov Sullivan 20/12/07
      46.   Jonathan, you would know 17:01  |  Yaakov Sullivan 20/12/07
      47.   I still don`t understand it 17:02  |  H50 20/12/07
      48.   # 25 17:12  |  zayda 20/12/07
      49.   #33 Palestinian Brit 17:13  |  Yonatan 20/12/07
      50.   6 new 6 feet under 17:15  |  maurice 20/12/07
      51.   boum badaboum, hallo virgins, here we are... 17:15  |  Jean 20/12/07
      52.   #37 POP - you gotta get them while they`re still young 17:16  |  Yonatan 20/12/07
      53.   #22 Natalie Durson. Don`t you think its shameful...? 17:22  |  Dutch 20/12/07
      54.   Mohammed in United Arabia 17:24  |  rich 20/12/07
      55.   #41 - James Sullivan - ve-lamalshinim al tehi tiqva 17:24  |  Yonatan 20/12/07
      56.   #47 H50 Then you must be pretty dumb 17:28  |  Yonatan 20/12/07
      57.   #Mike WORK? 17:35  |  H 20/12/07
      58.   Clickfool # 1 17:40  |  Gary 20/12/07
      59.   #43 Re: Article 32--make that article 6 instead 17:41  |  Dutch 20/12/07
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      65.   #59 Dutch - I demur 17:56  |  Yonatan 20/12/07
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      78.   Dutch Yakdy Yak 18:39  |  Gil 20/12/07
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