Gaza City - Another Israeli soldier was killed overnight
during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military
confirmed Tuesday.
The soldier was killed late Monday, but his death had been under
censorship until his family was informed, a military spokesman in Tel
Aviv told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, adding the military was
examining the circumstances of his death and the possibility that he
was killed by friendly fire as well. His death brought to five the
number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground fighting since it
started late Saturday.
Three Israeli soldiers were also killed late Monday on the
outskirts of the Jabaliya refugee camp, north of Gaza City, when an
Israeli tank shell erroneously struck a house in which they were
taking cover from Palestinian militants firing mortar shells against
them. Hamas' armed wing said in a statement that it had set a 'trap'
for the soldiers.
The military spokesman said the purpose of the ground invasion was
to arrest and question Hamas fighters, find and destroy Hamas
'infrastructure' - rocket storage sites - and hold territory from
where militants have been launching rockets into Israel.
Hamas nevertheless has succeeded in launching more rockets into
Israel, firing more than 40 Monday and at least another 10 Tuesday by
the late morning, hitting also the Israeli town of Gedera, north-east
of the port city of Ashdod for the first time and lightly injuring a
three-month-old baby.
The Israel Air Force also attacked another 40 targets overnight,
including more smuggling tunnels, rocket storages and a Gaza City
security headquarters compound.
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