Home / International / International / International -- Update Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Israeli Troops Push into Gaza Strip
Adjust font size:

Israel Wednesday launched its first ground offensive in the Gaza Strip since leaving the territory last year, stepping up pressure on Palestinian militants to release an abducted soldier.

Tanks and infantry, backed by assault helicopters and artillery, set up a strategic observation post at a disused airport outside the southern town of Rafah as masked gunmen waited behind barricades and in alleyways for battle to begin.

Threatening "extreme steps" if Corporal Gilad Shalit was not freed, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the operation would continue "over the coming days."

Launching the offensive three days after Shalit was captured in Israel by gunmen in a cross-border raid, Israeli aircraft struck at three bridges in what the army said was an attempt to stop militants moving the captive.

A helicopter attack on Gaza's only power plant sent flames shooting into the sky and cut off electricity to much of the coastal territory, where 1.4 million Palestinians live. Engineers said repairs could take six months.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the bombardment of civilian infrastructure "collective punishment and a crime against humanity."

Olmert said Israel had "no intention of recapturing" the Gaza Strip. "We have a central goal and that is to bring Gilad home," he said in a speech in Jerusalem.

Mushir al-Masri, a legislator from the governing Hamas movement, said Olmert's "adventurism" was "putting the missing soldier at risk."

Overflying Gaza, Israeli warplanes caused sonic booms that rattled Palestinian nerves and carried out what a military spokeswoman said were several missile strikes in open areas. Security sources said an explosion that killed two Palestinians at a home in the Gaza Strip Wednesday was accidental and not related to the Israeli offensive.

In another challenge to Israel, a militant group threatened to kill a Jewish settler it said it seized in the West Bank if the Gaza raid continued. Israeli authorities said the settler has been missing since Sunday.

Abu Abir, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, showed a photocopy of the missing settler's ID card at a Gaza news conference. Abu Abir and other militants left in a hurry at the sound of Israeli aircraft breaking the sound barrier.

(China Daily June 29, 2006)

 

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous
China Archives
Related >>
- Israel to Draw Border in West Bank Swiftly: Olmert
- Fatah, Hamas Agree to Defuse Tension in Gaza
- Abbas Calls for Referendum, Hamas- Fatah Violence Continues
- Hamas to Withdraw Militia in Gaza
- Israel Launches Another Airstrike in Gaza
- Israeli Missile Kills 11 in Gaza
- Palestinian Militants Launch Raid from Gaza into Israel
- Israel Prepares for Major Offensive
- Palestinian Factions Agree to Recognize Israel
Most Viewed >>
> Korean Nuclear Talks
> Reconstruction of Iraq
> Middle East Peace Process
> Iran Nuclear Issue
> 6th SCO Summit Meeting
Links
- China Development Gateway
- Foreign Ministry
- Network of East Asian Think-Tanks
- China-EU Association
- China-Africa Business Council
- China Foreign Affairs University
- University of International Relations
- Institute of World Economics & Politics
- Institute of Russian, East European & Central Asian Studies
- Institute of West Asian & African Studies
- Institute of Latin American Studies
- Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies
- Institute of Japanese Studies