Three IDF paratroopers were killed in Khan Younis this morning bringing to 32 the number of fatalities in Operation Protective Edge. Those who died were Captain Paz Eliyahu, 22 from Evron, First Sergeant Lee Matt, 19 from Eilat, and First Sergeant Shahar Dabor, 20 from Kibbutz Ginegar.
Following a lull lasting a few hours, rocket fire from Gaza resumed today, setting off alarms in Ashkelon, Beersheva, and the area near the Gaza Strip. Iron Dome intercepted a number of missiles over the Ashkelon region. A foreign worker was killed by a mortar shell in the Eshkol region. Rockets were fired at Ashdod and the inland plain around noon, and later at Ashkelon, Kiryat Malachi, and Beersheva. Iron Dome intercepted most of the rockets.
During a visit to the Gaza Strip border, Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon told IDF forces today, "We're preparing the next stages of the fighting for after we finish dealing with the tunnels, and you have to be ready for any mission. You have to prepare for more substantial missions within the Gaza Strip, and the units now waiting also have to get ready to go in."
Around 1 PM, the IDF attacked the al-Wafa hospital compound in the Sajiyah neighborhood. An IDF spokesman said, "Attacking terrorist targets in the hospital compound took place after many days during which our forces were fired on by members of the Hamas terrorist organization from within the compound and between its buildings. Fire from the compound at our forces included small arms fire and anti-tanks weapons. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are using the hospital compound as war rooms and a command post. The government coordinator of activities in the territories has repeatedly given direct warnings to international organizations, the hospital administration, and other Palestinian groups. The shooting continued and increased in the last few hours, thereby endangering our forces. The IDF therefore decided to attack active terrorist concentrations in the hospital compound." The Palestinians reported that there were no patients in the hospital during the attack.
Meanwhile, land operations by IDF forces in the Gaza Strip entered their sixth day this morning. It appears that the effort is now concentrating on hitting terrorist target in Dir al-Balach, among other things. Palestinian news agencies report major damage there and in the al-Maghazi refugee camp caused by high-intensity artillery attacks on these regions. Reports said that both buildings and agricultural areas were attacked. The Palestinians also reported bombardment of Beit Lahia and Khan Yunis. Medical sources in the Gaza Strip said that 639 had been killed and 4,060 wounded to date.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 23, 2014
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