Dozens of Israeli tanks entered southern Gaza City on Thursday as the army is pushing forward deep inside the city, local witnesses said.

According to the witnesses, since midnight till now, at least 30 tanks entered densely populated neighborhood of Tal al-Hawwa, shelled houses and exchanged heavy fire with Palestinian militants, killing at least five militants and injured dozens.

Other witnesses were quoted by a Western media also said that Israeli tanks barrelled into several neighborhoods of Gaza's main city and lunged deepest yet into Khan Yunis in the south after a night of intense bombings across the territory.

Thousands residents of Tal al-Hawwa fled their homes in pajamas, some wheeling elderly parents in wheelchairs.

Ambulance and paramedics were unable to enter this area due to the fierce confrontation.

Residents in the Gaza City said that the whole city was under the huge black and white smoke, adding that the Israeli tanks were only two kilometers away from Ramal neighborhood in the downtown city.

The Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip that has been going on for 20 days, Israeli warplanes and ground troops struck several targets into the blockaded enclave.

Gaza emergency chief Mo'aweya Hassanein said on Wednesday night that the Israeli army killed on Wednesday 28 Palestinians and wounded about 80 others, adding that the death toll since the beginning of the Israeli offensive on Dec. 27 has hit 1,017 with more than 4,600 wounded.

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2009)