Dozens killed in Iraqi pilgrimage suicide bombing

Israel steps up ground attack in Gaza

Israeli forces on Sunday stepped up attacks on the Hamas from the air and sea as troops deepened its ground operations in which at least 30 soldiers were wounded in the Gaza Strip. As the massive Israeli offensive entered the second week, Tel Aviv launched the expected ground operation into the coastal strip on Saturday. The news channel reported that 30 Israel soldiers were wounded; two of them seriously in the Gaza Strip before dawn on Sunday in the biggest Israeli military operation since its 2006 war in Lebanon. Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has cut off the northern Gaza Strip from Gaza City to the border with Israel. According to Palestinian reports, the Strip has been bisected from the Karni crossing in the center of the strip to the ruins of the former settlement of Netzarim in the South. Palestinian medics said "several" Hamas fighters had been seriously wounded during the fighting, but ambulances were unable to get to them as battles raged. Military sources said nearly two dozens militant fighters were killed in the initial battles. The IDF Spokesperson's office issued a statement, which emphasisised its goals “To strike a direct and hard blow against the Hamas while increasing the deterrent strength of the IDF, in order to bring about an improved and more stable security situation for residents of Southern Israel over the long term”. "The objective is to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations," said Israel Defense Forces Major Avital Leibovitch, a military spokesperson. "We are going to take some of the launch areas used by Hamas," she was quoted as saying by the news channel. The defiant Hamas vowed to turn Gaza in a "cemetery" for the invading force. In a statement, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said the army would take over sites in Gaza used to fire rockets at Israel and vowed to deal a "hard blow" at the Islamists. "It will not be easy or short but we are determined," Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said. "We do not seek war but we will not abandon our citizens to the ongoing Hamas attacks," Barak said in a nationally televised address Saturday, shortly after the ground invasion began. Hamas remained defiant, vowing the Gaza would become a "cemetery" for the Israeli army that would pay a "high price" for its invasion. At least 463 Palestinians, including 75 children have been killed, medics in Gaza said. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the offensive will have "grave consequences" for the Middle East, a senior aide said. The US blocked an attempt in the powerful UN Security Council to express serious concern over the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza after eight days of air strikes and to call for an immediate ceasefire, asserting that it would "not be adhered to and have no underpinning for success." In his weekly radio address on Saturday, President George W. Bush called on Hamas "to turn away from terror" and rejected calls for a unilateral ceasefire that he said would allow the Islamists to continue hitting Israel with rockets. Israel's air campaign against Gaza began 27th December after an unraveling, six-month truce expired. <<<< BACK