IDF tanks, bulldozers, and intelligence units entered the Gaza Strip this morning, following the attack on an Israeli position at the Kerem Shalom border post between the Gaza Strip and Israel, Galei Tzahal Army Radio reports. The Israeli force is combing an area hundreds of meters inside the Gaza Strip, mainly in the area of the tunnel through which the Palestinians entered Israeli territory.
Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Dan Halutz has been engaged in urgent discussions at military headquarters in Tel Aviv on the army's response to developments in the south. It appears that the army's recommendation to the government will be an extensive operation in the southern Gaza Strip.
Senior army officers said this morning that there should be a larger operation than anything seen in the past. "This is not a matter of another Kassam missile," a senior military source said, "This is a different kind of attack, and the reaction must correspond."
There were at least six Israeli casualties in the heavy exchange of fire this morning with a terrorist group that penetrated into Israel from the southern Gaza Strip, in what was described as "the most serious security incident since the disengagement."
The casualties were taken by helicopter to Soroka Hospital in Beersheva.
So far, four Palestinians are reported killed in the incident.
Three Palestinian organizations have said they were responsible for the attack: the military wing of Hamas; the Popular Resistance Committees; and a hitherto unknown organization calling itself "the Army of Islam".
An attack had been expected in the area for some time. A week ago, the Kerem Shalom and Sufa border crossings from the southern Gaza Strip into Israel were closed because of warnings of a planned terrorist attack.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on June 25, 2006
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2006