Sunday, July 20, 2014

Operation Protective Edge: Ground Phase, Day 3

Thirteen soldiers were killed overnight when they encountered fierce resistance fighting in the dense urban environment of Gaza City, the IDF announced today.

The central battle began when an anti-tank missile fired from within a Gaza building struck an Israeli armored personnel carrier, killing seven soldiers from the 13th battalion of the Golani Brigade, the army says.

The ambush, supported by machine gun fire, took place in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, in the northern part of the 40-kilometer-long Strip.

In the ensuing fighting, an unspecified number of soldiers were wounded, including Col. Ghassan Elian, the commander of the Golani Brigade, whose wound was deemed light to moderate.

Read the full story here.
Troops kill 2 gunmen who emerge from Gaza tunnel
The IDF says soldiers from the Armored Corps have killed two gunmen who emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza and fired at the troops.
The end of the 13th day
And so the blackest day of this conflict comes to an end.

Thirteen Israeli soldiers were killed, in heavy fighting that is still ongoing in Gaza’s Shejaiya neighborhood, a Hamas stronghold close enough to the border to be the source of numerous Hamas tunnels, the Israeli army says, and the source of some 150 rockets fired at Israel these past two weeks. Palestinian officials say 60 Palestinians have died in the fighting there.

Earlier Sunday, the IDF confirmed the deaths of two other soldiers on Saturday, bringing the toll of the IDF dead to 18. Sending condolences to the families, Netanyahu said all of Israel felt their pain, and that they died in the “most just cause of all,” defending their very home.

Our colleague Itamar Sharon will be starting Monday’s liveblog in a moment.

May tomorrow be brighter.

Posted by Watcher at 7/20/2014 01:11:00 PM | | E-mail this article

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