Developing: Israeli troops 'move into Gaza'

[Turborama]

Source: BBC


Israeli ground troops have begun to enter the Gaza Strip, Israeli military officials say.

Palestinian witnesses said a small column of vehicles had crossed the border near the town of Beit Lahiya.

Earlier, Israeli artillery and tanks massed near the border bombarded the territory for the first time since the campaign against Hamas began last week.

In one raid, at least 13 people were killed when a missile hit a crowded mosque in Beit Lahiya, medics said.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7809959.stm

---

Will add more as it develops.

Live coverage here:

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now /



___________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Israel begins Gaza ground assault

The Israeli army has confirmed its troops have entered the Gaza Strip as it escalates its offensive on the eighth day of operations.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, a spokesman for the Israeli government said: "They will be completing the mission of the air force, going for Hamas headquarters and weapons caches and giving a blow to their capability to launch attacks into Israel."

The gound assault came as the death toll of Palestinians climbed past 450 on Saturday as a strike on a northern Gaza town killed at least 11 people, including one child, who were praying in a mosque.

Earlier, Israeli artillery has started firing shells into the Gaza Strip for the first time.

Read More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/20...

[dana_b]

1. not good news

a mosque? great. what's next... a school yard?

[Pavulon]

2. If the video shows secondaries

the armed men should have just shot the women and kids they saw.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Earth_First]

4. Israeli ground troops have begun moving into Gaza, according to Israel Defense Forces.

Source: CNN

BREAKING: Israeli ground troops have begun moving into Gaza, according to Israel Defense Forces.

no link.

Read more: CNN.com

[babylonsister]

5. cnn showing Israeli troops going in; creepy. nt

[nashville_brook]

6. where's US and "world" opinion on this -- when does anyone say "enough"?

[tekisui]

7. Urban Warfare.

Ugly.Ugly.Ugly.

It is going to be hell for the Israelis and the Gazans. Casualties will increase and Israel will have a hard time ever leaving.

Stupid fucking wars.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[undeterred]

9. So now we have a ground war.

This can only escalate.

[laststeamtrain]

10. Haaretz: Israel launches ground operation in Gaza Strip

Israel launches ground operation in Gaza Strip
By Amos Harel, Yoav Stern and Yanir Yagana, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies

"The objective is to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations," said Israel Defense Forces Major Avital Leibovitch, a military spokeswoman, confirming that incursions were under way. "We are going to take some of the launch areas used by Hamas."

The IDF Spokesperson's office issued a statement, emphasizing that this stage of the operation will further the goals of the eight-day offensive as voiced by the IDF until now: To strike a direct and hard blow against the Hamas while increasing the deterrent strength of the IDF, in order to bring about an improved and more stable security situation for residents of Southern Israel over the long term.

Large numbers of forces are taking part in this stage of the operation including infantry, tanks, engineering forces, artillery and intelligence with the support of the Israel Air Force, Israel navy, the Shin Bet security service and other security agencies.

Meanwhile, the cabinet has authorized an emergency call up of tens of thousands of IDF reservists.

<more>

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052299.html

[Turborama]

11. "This won't be a school outing," Brigadier Avi Benayahu told Israel's Channel Two television.

"We are taking about many long days."

Full Article:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0103/...

[nradisic]

12. Unless you've lived under occupation....

I doubt any of you here on DU have lived under occupation, like the Palestinians have for over 40 years. I do not condone the actions of Hamas, but....I repeat; Unless you have lived under occupation, you really have no idea what life is like and hence, I do not think your comments bare any weight on this issue. I have lived on 3 continents, including the Arab world. Americans do not realize the situation that the Palestinians live in thanks to Israel. It is inconceivable to me why a people that was oppressed for millenia, chooses to do the same to their brethren...Thousand of years ago everyone was "Palestinian" in the land of Palestine. Abraham is the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and his descendants still cannot figure out a peaceful way to divide the land to accommodate everyone.

Hamas is wrong, but Israel is just making itself an even greater pariah throughout the world. It is exactly what they are doing now that makes guys like those in Mumbai go anti-semite. How people do not connect the two is amazing to me. Rather miopic in my view...

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

13. I wasn't aware that Gaza was currently occupied by Israel.

I thought preventing the establishment of Israeli occupation in Gaza is what we were discussing.

[NutmegYankee]

16. It's not a full occupation, but close enough.

Israel controls the inflow of goods.

[Idealism]

17. And blocks people from leaving, and cuts off their power/diesel that EU pays for,

and limits their water supply, etc.

[NutmegYankee]

18. Yep.

I was counting water, power, fuel etc as goods.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

28. I wasn't aware that a blockade was the same thing as an occupation.

I realize that there's a good market in misappropriating words around here, but sheesh, it's not the same thing at all.

[NutmegYankee]

29. Many consider it still occupied because it never gained full sovereignty.

It's kind of like the Central Government of Poland or Vichy France in WWII.

[Idealism]

30. West Bank is being occupied

Gaza, that's debatable.

[WriteDown]

19. If only someone could come up with a 2 state solution....

Oh wait.....

[Eryemil]

31. This can only end in blood

I personally support Israel, simply because they are a liberal democracy in a cesspit of religious fanaticism, anti-intellectualism and anti-humanism. Whenever I say this people are quick to mention the treatment of the Palestinians but as far as I see it neither side is innocent or clean. How else are the Israelis supposed to react? The past is gone, the Palestinians had their chance to have their piece of land and they refused.

Now there is only the current generation of Israelis, defending their country and what else should they do? Leave the land where they were born? Where would the Jews go? Back to being a tiny minority in hostile countries? I wouldn't in their place.

Like I said, this will only end in blood and I for once I'm somewhat happy to see at least a little bit of western sanity in the Middle East.

[Turborama]

14. BBC correspondent: this promises to be a very bloody encounter.

Long days

A small column of Israeli military vehicles, backed by attack helicopters, were seen crossing the border into the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday evening.

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the incursion had begun and said the objective was "to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations".

"We are going to take some of the launch areas used by Hamas," Maj Avital Leibovitch told reporters.

Another Israeli military spokesman warned that the operation would take "many long days".

"This won't be a school outing," Brig Avi Benayahu told Israel's Channel Two television.

The BBC's Paul Wood in Jerusalem says this is probably just the first wave of the assault, since there are said to be some 10,000 Israeli troops and hundreds of tanks massed on the border with Gaza.

The office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has also announced that the government has ordered the urgent call-up of "tens of thousands" of extra military reservists.

Just before the ground offensive began, Hamas issued a statement promising that Palestinian children would be picking over the ruins of Israeli tanks and the body parts of Israeli soldiers.

The militant group's exiled political leader, Khalid Meshaal, meanwhile warned Israel against a ground offensive, saying that a "black destiny" awaited Israeli forces if the entered Gaza.

Our correspondent says this promises to be a very bloody encounter.

Read More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7809959.stm

[NutmegYankee]

15. Or idiotic, like back in 2006.

I don't know if the IDF ground forces have what it takes. It's one thing to bomb from the air, another to fight in the dirt.

[Pavulon]

20. Ground war in dense city

can be MUCH worse. Once both sides start lobbing mortars and using support weapons this could become very deadly.

[NutmegYankee]

22. I question whether the IDF will go into the city.

They avoided combat in 2006 mostly. I guess we will see.

[pjt7]

21. I guess this is this is one of the test Biden warned us about

I can only hope we condem violence on both sides, acknowledge that Israel is the aggresor & take back all $8 Billion dollars we give to Israel every year.

[Karenina]

27. THIS IS ALL ABSURD ON BAD ACID.

STOP. IT. NOW.

[McCamy Taylor]

23. Breaking News from the Middle East….

Roman infantry under the command of Lucius Flavius Silva have begun to enter Masada, according to military officials after a three month siege. A Roman military spokesman said the intention was to take control of areas from which Palestinian militants have been conducting raids, including an attack on the town of Ein-Gedi where 700 were killed.

"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back"

[ShortnFiery]

24. Another "Military Solution" ... aren't they grand?!?

[newspeak]

25. tell me why we need to "rah, rah" either side

I agree that a Palestine state needs to be created--not some Israeli created puppet state. It's intolerable, the misery, the suffering--god, the murdering of children--I'm not just talking about the Gaza conflict, but what's happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. You know, I was talking to a woman a couple of years ago about the civilians being killed and our soldiers in Iraq-she just apathetically shrugged her shoulders and stated that "it's war, that's what happens." When it doesn't affect her small, ignorant little mind nor her families, then it's okay to cause destruction and misery on others. I'm sick of the greedy, asshole money grubbing war profiteers, I'm sick of the resource, land grabbing thieves, I'm sick of those sociopaths that look at people with the thought in their sick little minds that some people are more valuable than others--but especially, I'm sick of those who are truly, heartlessly ignorant--there is no glory in war, there is no honor watching the destruction of the innocent-on either side. "An eye for an eye, truly does make us all blind."

And some defending Israel's actions. Tell my why, as a US citizen, should I condone the actions of a country that sent spies posing as art students during 9/11, sent spies posing as movers attempting to get on a US military base, had a spy in Wolfowitz's office. Now, I wonder if that is a trusting ally--one that is constantly spying on you.

[Thothmes]

33. Legio X Fretensis

[captain jack]

26. Israeli troops 'move into Gaza' and destroy what little sympathy may have remained in the world.

[subsuelo]

34. ever notice...

... that it's only in the United States that you see the fervent support for Israel's war crimes and atrocities?

It's because people are glued to the msm and being told what to believe what to support, what not to support, etc. The level of brainwashing is truly a major achievement in the US.

[Turborama]

32. Israel splits Gaza in three as soldiers battle Hamas

James Hider on the Gaza border and Azmi Keshawi in Gaza City

Israeli troops fought heavy battles with Hamas fighters in two densely populated Gaza towns today as the Army sought to split the strip into three sections to cut off the Islamist group’s supply lines.

Thirty Israeli troops were injured, two seriously, and dozens of Palestinian fighters were killed, the military said. Hamas said that it had captured two soldiers, but the Israeli Defence Force would not confirm the claim, adding that it could be a propaganda ploy.

The Israeli strategy of splitting Gaza into north, central and southern sections mirrors a similar tactic employed when settlers used to come under attack in the strip.

It enables the military to stop Gaza City being supplied from the south, stops Hamas movements and gives troops distinct areas to clear.

Israeli troops also took up positions in the old Jewish settlement of Netzarim which controls the main north-south road.

In Gaza City an explosion hit Palestine Sq the main shopping area, close to a market, killing five people and badly injuring dozens.

A Times reporter at Shifa hospital saw six ambulances and seven cars – there is a shortage of emergency vehicles – arrive with the wounded. One was a badly maimed teenage girl and a man missing body parts.

Tanks supported by helicopter gunships battled around Gaza City and in the northern towns of Beit Lahiyah and Beit Hanoun as well as Jabaliya, a Hamas stronghold.

Flames shot high into the sky after the Israeli air force bombed a gas depot near Beit Lahiyah, causing a deafening explosion. A huge fire raged at the depot, on a main road through Gaza, following the strike on the private business which supplies cooking gas to the local population.

Flares streamed into the sky and exploded like fireworks, lighting up the overcrowded territory. Residents in Gaza City reported heavy bombing which appeared to have cut electricity supplies.

Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister and candidate for prime minister, threatened further escalation if Hamas hit back.

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east...

[Hissyspit]

35. Israeli Ground Troops Invade Gaza

Source: Associated Press

Israeli ground troops invade Gaza to halt rockets

By IBRAHIM BARZAK and JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 8 mins ago

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Thousands of Israeli troops backed by columns of tanks and helicopter gunships launched a ground offensive in Gaza on Saturday night, with officials saying they expected a lengthy fight in the densely populated territory after eight days of punishing airstrikes failed to halt militant rocket attacks on Israel. The incursion set off fierce clashes with Palestinian militants and Gaza's Hamas rulers vowed the coastal strip would be a "graveyard" for Israelis forces.

"This will not be easy and it will not be short," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on national television about two hours after ground troops moved in. Army ambulances were seen bringing Israeli wounded to a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. The military said a total of 30 soldiers were injured in the opening hours of the offensive along with "dozens" of militants.

The night sky over Gaza was lit by the flash of bullets and balls of fire from tank shells. Sounds of explosions were heard across Gaza City, the territory's biggest city, and high-rise buildings shook from the bigger booms.

Troops with camouflage face paint marching single file. As the ground troops moved in, Israel kept pounding Gaza with airstrikes. F-16 warplanes hit three targets within a few minutes, including a main Hamas security compound.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_i...

[LynnTheDem]

36. 1. No it's not to "halt rockets"; 2. No it won't work;

3. Yes it'll make everything worse than ever.

4. OBL proven right yet again; America's and Israel's "democracy" are total shams.

[Hissyspit]

37. I originally left that part of the headline out and then, per LBN rules, put it back in.

I took it out again. It's too offensive, although perfectly expected from AP.

[Lionel Mandrake]

39. Offensive?

How is the headline offensive?

IMO the ground assault probably is intended to stop the rockets.

If someone was lobbing rockets into the USA, I'd expect our government to do whatever it takes to make them stop.

[LynnTheDem]

41. Research and knowledge is a good thang.

Really.

[Hissyspit]

43. You answered your own question.

"In MY opinion."

"In my OPINION."

"PROBABLY intended."

It's not AP's job to parrot a government's talking points and assume motive.

Also: USA-being-rocketed analogy is not particularly fitting.

[Lionel Mandrake]

47. Okay, I get your point.

The AP story should have quoted someone, or else they should have said nothing about the purpose of the assault.

The story did include an indirect quotation: "Israeli leaders said the operation, known as Cast Lead, was meant to quell militant rocket and mortar fire on southern Israel."

[Hissyspit]

45. Reuters Headline: Israeli Tanks, Soldiers Invade Gaza Strip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090104/wl_nm/us_palestinia...

Israeli tanks, soldiers invade Gaza Strip

By Nidal al-Mughrabi – 53 mins ago

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli tanks and infantry battled Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in a ground offensive launched after eight days of deadly air strikes failed to halt the Islamist group's rocket attacks on Israel.

A column of Israeli tanks, backed by aircraft, pushed deep into the territory, and Israel's navy prevented travel along Gaza's coastal road, witnesses said, effectively cutting the enclave in half.
In initial fighting, Israeli ground forces killed eight Gazans, five of them gunmen, bringing the Palestinian death toll since the start of an air campaign on December 27 to more than 450, Palestinian medical officials said.

Israel said 30 of its soldiers were wounded, two seriously, since the start of the ground assault and that Israeli aircraft struck more than 45 targets, including arms smuggling tunnels, weapons depots and mortar squads.

"During exchanges of fire overnight, dozens of armed Hamas operatives were hit," an Israeli military communique said.

At the United Nations, the United States thwarted an effort by Libya to persuade the Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire, diplomats said. Israel said it called up tens of thousands of reservists and the military's chief spokesman estimated the operation in the Hamas-run territory could take "many long days."

[Hissyspit]

46. Another Headline: Battles Rage As Israeli Troops Push Deeper Into Gaza

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090104/wl_afp/mideastconf...

Battles rage as Israeli troops push deeper into Gaza

by Sakher Abu El Oun and Mai Yaghi – 30 mins ago

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza and clashed in fierce battles with Hamas fighters on Sunday as Israel raised the stakes in its deadly offensive on the Islamists' overcrowded stronghold.

Explosions shook the northern Gaza Strip and thick black smoke billowed skywards as fighting raged in the largest Israeli military operation since the 2006 war in Lebanon.

Israeli tanks and infantry were operating in the former Jewish colony of Netzarim, just three kilometres (nearly two miles) south of Gaza City, the main population centre of the densely populated territory, witnesses said.

Heavy fighting was also reported north of Gaza City and outside the northern towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanun and Jabaliya. Five civilians had been killed since Israeli troops rolled into Gaza just after nightfall on Saturday, medics said. Some 30 Israeli soldiers and "several" Hamas fighters were reported to have been wounded so far, the army and medics said.

[LynnTheDem]

40. With AP, we get the headlines we get, not the headlines of reality that we want.

That's why USA is #53 in freedom of the press.

[Lionel Mandrake]

48. Huh?

How do bad AP headlines imply lack of freedom of the press?

And where did you get the number 53?

[LynnTheDem]

51. U.S. Rank on Press Freedom Slides Lower

Although it ranked 17th on the first list, published in 2002, the United States now stands at 53, having fallen nine places since last year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

[Lionel Mandrake]

56. That's interesting.

I had never heard of Reporters Without Borders. It sounds somewhat like Doctors Without Borders. The article you cited also says the following:

"Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of 'national security' to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his 'war on terrorism,' " the group said.

"The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 U.S. states, refuse to recognize the media's right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism," the group said.

Lucie Morillon, the organization's Washington representative, said the index is based on responses to 50 questions about press freedom asked of journalists, free press organizations, researchers, human rights activists and others.

[Ghost Dog]

50. Headline apparently changed now. And here' some more content:

Israeli leader: Gaza ground invasion 'unavoidable'

...

While the air offensive presented little risk for Israel's army, sending in ground troops is a much more dangerous proposition. Hamas is believed to have some 20,000 gunman who know the dense urban landscape intimately. For months, Israeli leaders had resisted a ground invasion, fearing heavy casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he decided that the government had no more choice.

"I want to be able to go to the Israeli public and all the mothers and say, 'We did everything in a responsible manner,'" Olmert said in a statement released by his office. "In the end, we reached the moment where I had to decide to send out soldiers."

He stressed the campaign's objective is to restore quiet to Israel's south, not to topple Hamas or reoccupy Gaza. Israel considers Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since June 2007 and is sworn to Israel's destruction, a terrorist group.

Israel has launched at least two other large ground offensives in Gaza since withdrawing its troops from the area in 2005. But the size of this latest operation dwarfs those, with at least three times the firepower.

Israel also has called up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers, which defense officials said could enable a far broader ground offensive as the operation's third phase. The troops could also be used in the event Palestinian militants in the West Bank or Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon decide to launch attacks. Hezbollah opened a war against Israel in 2006 when it was in the midst of a large operation in Gaza.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the military's preparations are classified.

An armored force south of Gaza City penetrated as deep as the abandoned settlement of Netzarim, which Israel left along with other Israeli communities when it pulled out of Gaza in 2005, both military officials and Palestinian witnesses said.

That move effectively cut off Gaza City, the territory's largest population center with about 400,000 people, from the rest of Gaza to the south.

The offensive focused on northern Gaza, where most of the rockets are fired into Israel, but at least one incursion was reported in the southern part of the strip. Hamas uses smuggling tunnels along the southern border with Egypt to bring in weapons.

Warplanes struck about four dozen targets overnight, including tunnels, weapons storage facilities, areas used to launch mortars and squads of Hamas fighters, the military said.

Gunboats backed up the ground forces, attacking Hamas intelligence headquarters in Gaza City, rocket-launching areas and positions of Hamas marine forces.

Hamas was responding with mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades. Field commanders communicated over walkie talkie, updating gunmen on the location of Israeli forces. Commanders told gunmen in the streets not to gather in big groups and not to use cell phones. Hamas' TV and radio stations, broadcasting from secret locations after their offices were destroyed, remained on the air, broadcasting live coverage.

Ground forces had not entered major Gaza towns and cities by early Sunday morning, instead fighting in rural communities and open areas militants often use to launch rockets and mortar rounds. Militants also fire from heavily populated neighborhoods.

Residents of the small northern Gaza community of al-Attatra said soldiers moved from house to house by blowing holes through walls. Most of the houses were unoccupied, their residents already having fled.

/more... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_i...

[orleans]

53. i'm also getting different headlines than what was there

originally when hissyspit put up links

Israelis, Hamas battle in Gaza Strip
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090104/wl_nm/us_palestinia...

Israeli forces bisect Gaza, surround biggest city
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_i...

looks like part of articles are different--tho i'm not really taking the time to read them.

do papers usually change headlines *so* frequently?

never mind i guess.

one of the links has a different article/different writers

[Ghost Dog]

54. They really shouldn't do that. Every 'update' should be posted

to a new location at a new URL, leaving earlier versions in place.

Otherwise, as in this case, they are just creating their own "Memory Holes".

[spoony]

49. "OBL proven right yet again"

Nice. Which training camp are you going to be attending?

[LynnTheDem]

52. It's a brand new year; and after dealing with idiot rightwingnut

morans and their "for or against" and crap like calling me a "Saddam-lover" for opposing the bullshit illegal invasion of Iraq, I'm just not gonna bother with idiots this year.

[lostnotforgotten]

38. Interesting That This Is Happening On Bush's Watch As One Suspects That Obama

Might not tolerate Israel's behavior.

[Andrushka]

55. Really?

A few "tsks" towards their way perhaps? Paint me cynical, but what would he be doing right now if this had happened a few months hence?

[totodeinhere]

57. Obama has given no indication that he will substantially change our policy toward Israel. n/t

[Libertas1776]

42. ...

Israel planned this attack at the perfect time knowing that maybe, just maybe Obama wasn't going to bend over backward for Israel as Bush has done.
So what do they do: they get the US with its hands tied in the middle of the transition of power in the most powerful leadership role in the world.

And the world wants Obama to speak up. Well he is not POTUS yet and speaking a tune different from the still head of state, no matter how big a douche bag he may be, creates a world of political conflict. They did this on purpose to preemptively screw Obama.

And where is the support of the Arab world. They love to spew rhetoric, condemning the US etc. and yet they barely lift a finger for Palestine and have done little for peace, or to play devil's advocate for a moment, have not given any support or supplies to Hamas. The truth is that Palestine, especially Gaza is the black sheep in the Arab bunch. Nothing but rhetoric from every which way but loose, and more and more people continue to die.
Shame on Israel, shame on Palestine, shame on the Bush administration, and shame on the Arab League.

[totodeinhere]

58. Good post n/t

[junior college]

44. Here we go again n/t

[maddezmom]

59. locking

Updated link here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...