An Israeli helicopter yesterday fired a missile into a village in north Gaza where army forces have been trying to root out Palestinian militant rocket squads, but no casualties were reported, witnesses said.
The reported attack occurred in Tal al-Zatar village close to the town of Beit Hanoun, the scene of an open-ended Israeli incursion to suppress Hamas militants who have been firing crude rockets over the fenced border into nearby Israel.
Israeli military sources declined to confirm a missile strike but said army units were trying at the time to repulse an approaching group of armed militants.
Israeli tanks and infantry moved into the Beit Hanoun area a month ago and have razed farmland used by Hamas as cover for firing rockets. But the mobile-rocket squads have shifted positions and kept targeting the Israeli town of Sderot.
As a result, Israel expanded the incursion westward on Tuesday night to the edge of the large Jabalya refugee camp in the hope of driving the rocket squads out of range of Sderot.
The army push towards Jabalya triggered pre-dawn clashes with militants yesterday in which at least four Palestinians were wounded, Palestinian medics said.
Witnesses reported hearing heavy machine-gun fire from Israeli tanks and helicopters in the densely populated district.
They said Israeli bulldozers were moving in to flatten more property in what the army calls attempts to deprive militants of concealed firing points, but which Palestinians call collective punishment due to the extensive destruction left behind.
Sderot has been hit almost daily by the generally inaccurate Qassam rockets, but casualties have been few in number.
Hamas issued a videotape on Tuesday, broadcast by al-Arabiya satellite TV, in which it swore to keep raining rockets on Sderot unless Israel ended its 37-year occupation of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon aims to evacuate Jewish settlers from occupied parts of Gaza next year under his "disengagement plan," but vows to crush militants first to prevent them claiming victory.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
‘SHOCK TACTIC’: The dismissal of Yang mirrors past cases such as Jang Song-thaek, Kim’s uncle, who was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow his nephew North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fired his vice premier, compared him to a goat and railed against “incompetent” officials, state media reported yesterday, in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory. Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, in a speech in which Kim attacked “irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials.” “Please, comrade vice premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said. “He is ineligible for an important duty. Put simply, it was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on
RSS