BICOM

A further nine Israeli soldiers were killed during battles yesterday and dozens of Palestinians also died as fighting continued in the Gaza Strip.

With well over 1,000 rockets having been fired from Gaza since the operation began, Israel launched a ground incursion on Thursday night, with the immediate goal of uprooting the network of tunnels used by Hamas to launch attacks against Israel. Four of the Israeli soldiers killed yesterday were ambushed by Hamas fighters who emerged from a tunnel in Israeli territory and opened fire on an IDF vehicle. Three additional soldiers were killed in continuing battles in the Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City, which has seen especially fierce fighting.

The IDF reported that over 100 mainly weapons-related targets were struck in Shejaiya overnight and around 20 Hamas gunmen had been killed. Since Israel launched the ground incursion, 183 Hamas fighters have been killed, while 23 tunnels and 66 access shafts have been uncovered by Israeli forces. The Israeli army says that tunnel entrances have been found in houses and mosques. Meanwhile, rockets continued to be fired yesterday from the Gaza Strip into Israel. They mainly targeted southern cities such as Beer Sheva and Ashkelon. However, the Iron Dome anti-missile system also intercepted rockets over Tel Aviv and the surrounding area.

During yesterday’s fighting in Gaza, an Israeli air strike on a house in Khan Younis reportedly killed at least 20 members of the same family. A hospital in Deir al-Balah was hit by shelling, killing several people while as many as 10 people died in an air strike in Rafah. Palestinians report over 500 casualties since Operation Protective Edge was launched two weeks ago, although it is not clear what percentage of this figure are civilians. Meanwhile, an Israeli military field hospital yesterday began treating injured Palestinians on the Israeli side of the Erez border crossing. In addition, four Gazan civilians were taken to Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv for treatment.