- Title: VARIOUS: Israeli forces squeeze Gaza, say work still ahead
- Date: 14th January 2009
- Summary: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (JANUARY 13, 2009) (REUTERS) WOMAN BEING HELPED ONTO STRETCHER / WOMAN SHOUTING AMBULANCE DRIVING BY CRYING MEN GOING OUT OF AMBULANCE BODY BEING WHEELED ON STRETCHER FROM AMBULANCE TO HOSPITAL NORTHERN GAZA, GAZA (JANUARY 13, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE RUNNING AWAY, CARRYING PERSONAL BELONGINGS VIEW OF DAMAGED BUILDING MORE OF RESIDENTS LEAVING WI
- Embargoed: 29th January 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA1JLNRZUGQI7XQGU3AIVLEY3R3
- Story Text: Hamas releases video with what it says shows the shooting of an Israeli solider operating in the Gaza Strip while Israeli F-16 war planes continue to pound the territory.
Hamas released a video on Tuesday (January 13) showing what it said was an Israeli soldier being shot in the Gaza Strip.
The footage contains what appears to be a Hamas sniper taking aim at the soldier. A shot is fired and the soldier falls backwards. Seconds later, another shot is fired and more Israeli soldiers run for cover.
Also on Tuesday, the Israeli army released a video which it said showed munitions and weapons inside a Gaza mosque.
In the video, Israeli soldiers describe a house next to the mosque which they say is the home of a regional Hamas Battalion commander, in the Zeitun neighbourhood.
"This is his house. We are carrying out searches. And you can see here the mosque, which is located next to the house. More than once, there was firing against us from this mosque," the soldier says to the camera.
There was no way of independently verifying the contents or origins of both videos.
Israeli forces pushed closer towards the heart of the city of Gaza on Tuesday and Israel's top general Gabi Ashkenazi said that "there is still work ahead" against Hamas in a devastating 18-day-old offensive.
In northern Gaza, residents gathered around a dead horses' body which seemed to be hit from the heavy fighting in the area.
In central Gaza, wounded Palestinians were evacuated into hospitals, and dead bodies were brought to the hospital's morgue on stretchers.
Some residents fled from their houses and went out to the streets, holding their personal belongings.
The Palestinian death toll rose to 952, Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry said, counting some 400 women and children among those killed in the Israeli campaign. Israel says 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians hit by Hamas rockets have died.
Israeli aircraft attacked 60 targets, including tunnels used by Gaza militants to smuggle arms across the border from Egypt, weapons-making sites and Hamas command posts, the army said. Two rockets fired from Gaza hit Beersheba in southern Israel, causing no casualties. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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