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Israel makes first Gaza incursion since pullout

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Friday, April 14, 2006

GAZA CITY — Israel's military has entered the Gaza Strip for the first time since its withdrawal in September 2005.

The military said Israeli troops, backed by main battle tanks, entered the Palestinian Authority east of the border terminal at Kissufim on Thursday in response to an alert of an insurgency attack. This was the first time Israel's military entered the Gaza Strip without PA coordination since the 2005 pullout.

The Israeli entry came in wake of a battle near the terminal in which two Palestinian insurgents were killed. The insurgents were found with weapons, communications system and supplies that suggested plans to launch an attack within Israel.

Palestinian sources said the Israeli military entered 500 meters within the eastern Gaza Strip. The Israeli force did not meet any Palestinian resistance.

The Israeli military said the Palestinian force entered 50 meters in PA territory. Israel and the PA have disputed the boundaries of the Gaza Strip.

In March, PA officials reported Israeli incursions into the Gaza Strip by special operations forces who searched for Palestinian missile gunners. Israel did not confirm the reports.

On Friday, Israeli artillery fired toward suspected Palestinian missile launch sites in the northern Gaza Strip. Earlier, Palestinian gunners fired two Kassam-class, short-range missiles toward Israel, both of which were said to have fell in PA territory.

"If Hamas leaders don't act to stop the rockets, they must be hit hard and pay a heavy price," Brig. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, head of operations at General Staff Headquarters, told the Israeli daily Haaretz on Friday. "What we saw up to now was just an introduction."


Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

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