Radio New Zealand News : Stories : 2009 : 01 : 02 : Israeli sends tanks into Gaza Strip
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.
Wearing night-vision goggles on their helmets and camouflage paint on their faces, Israeli soldiers entered the densely populated enclave on Saturday along with tank columns that swept in from four points as combat helicopters flew overhead.
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 27 December to more than 450, medical officials said.
There was no official word of any Israeli casualties.
Israel said it called up 10,000 reservists and the military's chief spokesman estimated the operation in the Hamas-run territory could take "many long days".
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.
Wearing night-vision goggles on their helmets and camouflage paint on their faces, Israeli soldiers entered the densely populated enclave on Saturday along with tank columns that swept in from four points as combat helicopters flew overhead.
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 27 December to more than 450, medical officials said.
There was no official word of any Israeli casualties.
Israel said it called up 10,000 reservists and the military's chief spokesman estimated the operation in the Hamas-run territory could take "many long days".
Y not just stop firing the rockets as a means of undercutting the justification for the Israeli incursion?
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