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Hamas puts up stiff resistance in Gaza

DUBAI: Israeli forces have begun to suffer casualties in the face of stiff resistance offered by Hamas fighters as the Gaza conflict continues to meander in the absence of a credible international effort to stop the fighting.

Israeli ground troops, backed by tanks, artillery units, helicopters and fighter jets are persisting in their attempt to dominate the battlefield. They are trying to surround the entire Gaza strip. In tandem, an attempt is being made to deepen the separation of the northern half of the coastal Strip from the rest of the territory. Israeli war planes are bombing the southern part of Gaza to block the network of tunnels which are used for ferrying supplies into the Strip from Egypt. Since a lot of fighting has been taking place in well-populated areas, civilian causalities have surged. Senior U.N. officials acknowledge that Gaza is facing a grave humanitarian crisis.

On Tuesday, Israeli tanks edged closer to the town of Khan Younisa, a vital junction from where material supplies sourced from the south are distributed in the rest of Gaza. Israeli Navy also appeared to land forces at the central coastal city of Deir al-Balah. On Monday, Israelis and Palestinians fought five battles at various locations in Gaza, according to Israeli military sources.

The Israelis say four of their soldiers died as a result of “friendly fire.” Three were killed when an Israeli tank shell mistakenly targeted Israeli troops occupying a building. Twenty soldiers were wounded, with four sustaining serious injuries.

Contradicting the Israeli count, the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said at least 10 Israeli soldiers had been killed and 30 others wounded when troops belonging to Israel’s elite Golani Brigade were ambushed. The Qassam Brigades said that Israeli troops were lured into entering a house which they had booby-trapped. The house was blown up once the troops entered, resulting in the casualties.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad said in Damascus on Tuesday that Israeli actions in Gaza amounted to “a real war crime.”

During the course of a press conference in the presence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, he said that the Israelis had not learnt the lessons of the 2006 Lebanon war.

“They have to perceive that the resistance is not an organisation that they can dismantle or a person they can assassinate; it’s a full concept that’s spreading.”

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