Bloody clashes between Israeli Army, Palestinian fighters continue

Updated at: 1312 PST, Sunday, January 04, 2009

GAZA: The bloody clashes between the Israeli Army and the Palestinian fighters continued unabated, while the rivals claiming to have inflicted heavy damages to each other.

On the other hand, United Nation Security Council once again failed to get pass through a condemnation resolution or on the issuance of a presidential statement.

Israeli Army after one-week of aerial bombardments last night launched ground offensive and intruded into Gaza Strip ignoring all appeals from the world community. Explosions thundered over the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday and smoke billowed into the sky as Israeli infantry backed by armour and helicopter gunships battled against Hamas fighters. At daybreak, from a vantage point on the Gaza border, massive and incessant artillery shelling and tank fire could be heard, and a huge plume of black smoke could be seen rising from one target that was being hit repeatedly. Israeli tanks continued pouring into Gaza on Sunday along with military ambulances as artillery shells rained down on the Palestinian territory. Troops were reported to be operating just three kilometres (nearly two miles) south of Gaza City, the main population centre of the densely populated enclave sandwiched between Israel and Egypt. It was at around 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Saturday when infantry kitted with night-vision goggles trotted alongside tank columns across the northern and northeastern borders and into the Hamas stronghold. Hamas fighters fired mortar rounds and detonated roadside bombs as the Israelis advanced. Shortly after the ground offensive began, flames shot high into the night sky when warplanes bombed a gas depot near Beit Lahiya, causing a deafening blast. A huge fire raged at the depot, on a main road through Gaza, following the strike on the private business that sells cooking gas. Flares also streamed into the sky and exploded like fireworks, briefly lighting up the overcrowded territory. As the night wore on, witnesses said Israeli troops were approaching a built-up area in northwestern Gaza known as Sudaniyah, near the Mediterranean coast in northwestern Gaza. Separately, witnesses said soldiers had entered a neighbourhood of the northeastern town of Beit Hanun. Residents were being told by loudspeaker to evacuate the area, they said. The air force said it had hit 45 targets, including tunnels, weapons storage facilities, rocket launching squads and a number of mortar launching areas. Witnesses said that among the targets was the home of a senior Hamas official, which was destroyed without inflicting any casualties. The Israeli military said naval vessels had attacked a number of targets, including the Hamas intelligence headquarters in Gaza City, rocket-launching sites and Hamas marine forces outposts.

Israeli Army have claimed killing scores of Palestinians, but the exact number was not told.