GAZA: Israeli army takes over Hamas-run television station and uses it to threaten Hamas leaders

Record ID: 396988

  • Title: GAZA: Israeli army takes over Hamas-run television station and uses it to threaten Hamas leaders
  • Date: 4th January 2009
  • Summary: PARAMEDICS EVACUATING WOUNDED TO HOSPITAL MAN CARRYING WOUNDED CHILD PARAMEDICS TREATING CHILD VARIOUS OF WOUNDED PARAMEDIC BEEN TREATED INSIDE HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF WOUNDED CHILD MAN CRYING PEOPLE AND PARAMEDICS INSIDE HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF PARAMEDICS EVACUATING DEAD BODY VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN MORGUE
  • Embargoed: 19th January 2009 12:00
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  • Reuters ID: LVADS86C829GRR2CW0NOR2KR7GL2
  • Story Text: Israel's army took over a Hamas-run television station on Sunday (January 4) to broadcast threats to the Islamist group's leaders.
    Television graphics written in Arabic called on Hamas leaders to surrender to Israeli troops as "their time was running out".
    The graphic showed a black background and what appeared to be red targets on the heads of several Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, Sayeed Seyam, and Mahmoud al Zahar amongst others.
    Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants on the outskirts of Gaza City on Sunday (January 4) after pushing deep into the coastal strip in a ground offensive launched Saturday night that marked the worst fighting in the conflict in decades.
    The Islamist group Hamas said it had captured two Israeli soldiers, an event which would highlight the political risk for Israel of sending in its troops. The Israeli army, however, could not confirm the report.
    The long-predicted ground action followed a week of Israeli bombardments from land, sea and air which failed to halt Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel but killed more than 450 Palestinians in the heavily populated, Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
    Israeli tanks and troops virtually cut the territory in half with their nightime advance and by Sunday morning were ringing Gaza City itself, Palestinian witnesses said.
    Soldiers and Hamas fighters were locked in fierce gunbattles east of the Hamas stronghold of Zeitoun.
    In initial clashes, Israeli ground forces killed eight Gazans, five of them fighters. Four Palestinians were killed when a house was struck by an Israeli missile in Rafah, medics and residents said.
    Israel said 30 of its soldiers were wounded, two seriously, since the start of the ground assault. Israeli aircraft struck more than 45 targets, including arms smuggling tunnels, weapons depots and mortar squads.
    Heavy casualties are likely to increase international pressure on Israel to halt its biggest operation in the Gaza Strip in four decades, fighting that holds significant political risks for Israeli leaders ahead of a February 10 national election.
    The plight of the 1.5 million Palestinians crammed into the Gaza Strip was growing more desperate. People have taken shelter in their homes for days and humanitarian agencies warned that water, food and medical supplies were running short.
    At least a quarter of the 453 Palestinians killed in the current conflict have been civilians, a U.N. agency said. Another 2,050 Palestinians have been wounded.
    Four Israelis have been killed by rockets in southern Israel.
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