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.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS