Fighting rages in Gaza
English Al-Jazeera
Jan 6, 09
Heavy fighting has taken place in and around Gaza City with
Palestinian fighters putting up a stiff resistance to
advancing Israeli ground forces.
Large explosions and intense gun battles were reported from
the Shejaiya neighbourhood late on Monday.
Flares lit up the skies as Israeli helicopter gunships and
fighter jets flew low over the the city.
A spokesman of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of
the Islamic Jihad movement, told Al Jazeera that Israeli
tanks were trying to move into Gaza City.
He said that the group's fighters had destroyed an Israeli
armoured personnel carrier in the clashes.
Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from the Gaza
Strip, said that much of the fighting took place around a
high area on the outskirts of the city.
"The strategic overlook essentially gives an overview of
the entire northern part of Gaza .. that's why it probably
has some significance to the Israeli military," he said.
"Because of its height and elevation it has probably also
been used to fire rockets into Israel."
Fierce fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian
fighters was also reported in eastern Jabliya in the
northern Gaza Strip.
'Everywhere bombed'
"All of Gaza is dark except for the flares fired by F-16s
and Apaches [helicopter gunships]. The F-16s for the first
time are flying very low and shooting missiles everywhere,"
Moussa el-Hadda, a retired doctor in the Gaza Strip, said.
"Nobody can leave their home, we have no shelters and
Israel knows this. They just bombed everywhere and most of
their bombs are hitting houses," he told Al Jazeera.
Earlier, Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, told
members of parliament that Gaza City was partially
surrounded.
"We have hit Hamas hard, but we have not yet reached all
the goals that we have set for ourselves," he said.
Dozens of Palestinians were reported to have been detained
during the Israeli push into the Gaza Strip.
Despite 10 days of constant bombardment of the Gaza Strip
by the Israeli military, causing the deaths of at least
than 548 Palestinians, a senior Hamas official said on
Monday that "victory is coming" for Palestinian fighters.
Mahmoud al-Zahar said that the movement's armed wing had
"given the most beautiful performances during its
confrontation with the army that the world thought
invincible".
"We will defeat it, God willing," he said.
Israeli officials say the assault on Gaza is aimed at
stopping Hamas firing rockets into southern Israel.
Al-Zahar warned that Israel's war on Gaza had opened it up
to retribution by Palestinian fighters.
"They have legitimised the murder of their own children by
killing the children of Palestine," he said.
"They have legitimised the destruction of their synagogues
and their schools by hitting our mosques and our schools."
Rocket attacks
Palestinian fighters have continued to fire rockets into
southern Israel despite the Israeli military operation.
But Major Avital Leibovitch, an Israeli military
spokeswoman, told Al Jazeera that the cross-border attacks
were being slowed.
"Those rockets are coming less and less, because today we
have had approximately 20 launchings which is one-tenth of
Hamas's original launching capabilities ... there are signs
that Hamas is weakening," she said.
"The second stage of the operation is going as planned, we
have a variety of forces joining in this and it is
proceeding according to the plan."
Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas's Izz-e-din Al-Qassam
Brigades, warned the Israeli military that it had many
fighters ready to face it in the Gaza Strip.
"We have prepared thousands of brave fighters who are
waiting for you in each corner of the street and will
welcome you with fire and iron," he said.
"As long as the aggression intensifies, your losses will
increase and you will sink further into the Gaza quagmire."
Al Jazeera's Mohyeldin said that the ongoing fighting was
"not a battle between two armies".
"The Palestinian factions' biggest weapon, they say, is
their will and resolve. What they are using are small to
medium sized machine guns ... nothing particularly
sophisticated," he said.
"The style of warfare they are engaging in is a cladestine
one where they can simply melt away, they have the agility
advantage over the Israelis because they are not operating
large vehicles, they are mostly on foot."
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