GAZA/ISREL: Palestinian and Israeli civilians are caught in line of cross border fire

Record ID: 791327

  • Title: GAZA/ISREL: Palestinian and Israeli civilians are caught in line of cross border fire
  • Date: 6th January 2009
  • Summary: RAFAH, GAZA (JANUARY 5, 2009) (REUTERS) PALESTINIANS RUNNING FOR COVER / AUDIO: EXPLOSION VARIOUS OF CIVILIANS IN STREET WHILE AMBULANCE SIRENS ECHO VARIOUS OF SMOKE BILLOWING IN RESIDENTIAL AREA AFTER BUILDING HIT IN ISRAELI ATTACK VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN ON DEBRIS OF HOUSE HIT BY ISRAELI FIRE PALESTINIANS SIFTING THROUGH DEBRIS AMBULANCE LEAVING THE AREA
  • Embargoed: 21st January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Reuters ID: LVA12CFW6E9W0AU6KHCDTDTDQTTW
  • Story Text: Residents living in both sides of the Israeli-Gaza border flee ongoing crossfire while in the West Bank protesters clash with Palestinian police.
    Cross border violence between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip intensified on Monday (January 5) with fresh Israeli strikes on the coastal territory and Palestinian rockets launched from Gaza hit southern Israel.
    Israeli tanks, planes and ground forces pounded the 40-km-long coastal territory, home to 1.5 million people, and the Israeli defence minister said the offensive against Hamas militants in the Palestinian enclave would go on until Israel was safe.
    Palestinians ran for cover when blasts rocked the town of Rafah, on the Gaza border with Egypt. Black smoke came from a building in a residential area after it was hit by Israeli fire.
    The empty house of Hamas militant leader Mohammed Abu Shammala was bombed by Israeli forces, residents said.
    The 14-km (9 mile) Egypt frontier, known as the Philadelphi corridor, is criss-crossed by tunnels which have let Palestinians in the coastal enclave smuggle in weapons and commercial goods, circumventing an Israeli-led blockade.
    In the north of the strip, gunbattles intensified in eastern Gaza City.
    Militants fired mortars and grenades, detonated mines and claimed to have hit a troop carrier.
    On the Israeli side, security forces arrived at a residential area in the city of Ashkelon, some 20 km (12 mile) north of Gaza Strip, where a rocket fired by Palestinians from Gaza hit a house and wounded at least two people.
    Residents ran for cover after as sirens went off across the city to alert of a rocket launch from Gaza.
    Four Israelis have been killed by salvoes fired into Israel since the offensive began. An Israeli soldier was killed in fighting on Sunday and 48 have been wounded since the invasion.
    The death toll in besieged Gaza rose to at least 541 people over the 10-day offensive, at least a quarter of them civilians, a U.N. agency said.
    In the West bank town of Birzeit, some 200 university students marched in protest against Israel's assault on Gaza, but Palestinian policemen scuffled with the demonstrators when they tried to block them.
    International efforts to secure a ceasefire moved ahead with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Middle East special envoy Tony Blair visiting the region, but they seemed able to offer little beyond words.
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