Three Israeli soldiers killed in clashes near Gaza border

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Three Israel Defense Forces soldiers from the elite Givati Brigade were killed on Wednesday in an exchange of heavy gunfire with Palestinian militants next to the Gaza Strip security fence.

A preliminary IDF investigation suggests that an operational mishap occurred during the soldiers' raid, a senior officer in the Southern Command told Haaretz.

The officer said that the army was investigating why reinforcements were not sent to back up the Givati troops and whether the soldiers were sent on the correct path. The IDF said that the clashes occurred near Kibbutz Be'eri, in the western Negev, as troops entered the Strip to arrest a band of suspicious looking figures.

The soldiers were killed after troops spotted two Hamas militants planting a bomb near the Israeli border. Troops pursued the militants, only to fall into an ambush by another Hamas force lying in wait, Israeli defense officials said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/975546.html

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1. Israeli forces in deadly Gaza raid

At least five fighters from the armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement have been killed in fighting with Israeli troops, the group said.

Three Israeli soldiers also died in the clashes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Hamas said that it killed the soldiers in a "sophisticated ambush" in Gaza City.

The deaths were not immediately confirmed by the Israeli military.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6315A831-E44A-4A05-878F-6710B8B3A2AC.htm

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2. 20 Palestinians killed in IDF operations in Gaza

Twenty Palestinians were killed Wednesday, including a Reuters cameraman, in Israel Defense Forces operations in the Gaza Strip, making Wednesday one of the bloodiest days in recent times in Gaza. Most of the clashes came in the afternoon in the center of the Strip, not far from the place where three Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hamas ambush earlier in the day.

The fierce day of fighting started at around midnight on Tuesday, when a patrol from the Givati infantry brigade, accompanied by armored and artillery forces, entered the Sajawiya neighborhood on the east side of Gaza City. The soldiers exchanged fire with armed Palestinians, mostly from Hamas. One Givati soldier was moderately wounded in the thigh by a sniper. The soldiers killed four Hamas gunmen. According to military sources, the Palestinians even fired from the minaret of a mosque, and the IDF returned fire at the mosque and later blew up explosive devices found inside the mosque. The mosque suffered heavy damage, and the resulting pictures caused furious responses in the Muslim world.

A Palestinian farmer, Hani Al-Zuarub, was killed at 3:00 P.M near Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, when a missile hit the car he was in. Another man was wounded. Three others were injured by shots fired at a school in the town. Twelve Palestinians were killed, including five children under the age of 16, Wednesday afternoon when IDF helicopters fired missiles at houses in the Juhad Al-Dik area.

Three more Palestinians were killed near the Wadi Gaza Bridge, including Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, 23. He died when the car he was riding in was hit by a missile. Two other journalists were wounded. Pictures showed the car had the letters "TV" on it, as is usual for vehicles used by journalists in the region.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/975647.html

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3. Hamas operation meticulously planned

The Hamas operation yesterday that killed three Israel Defense Forces soldiers in an ambush in the Gaza Strip was meticulously planned and designed to prevent repeated IDF incursions into the Strip, a Hamas spokesman said yesterday.

The ambush was set up using two lines, with the front line used to bate IDF soldiers. When the IDF troops approached the front line, the back line then closed in on them and opened fire with rifles and anti-tank missiles, Hamas said. "Our fighters managed to exchange fire with the force from a distance of less than five meters, which increased the casualties and caused confusion," the spokesperson said.

The Islamic group's spokesman said that none of the eight gunmen who took part in the operation - code-named "Killing Field" - were killed.

"The Gaza Strip will remain a flaming stone that will crush the sick dreams of the Zionist enemy," the spokesman said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/975693.html

[Vegasaurus]

5. Lifelong goals of killing Israelis

what a waste.

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4. Israel strikes Gaza after 3 soldiers killed, 3 wounded in Hamas ambush

Three Israel Defense Forces soldiers and at least 20 Palestinians were killed in the most intense day of fighting in the Gaza Strip for over a month. Palestinian fatalities included at least 10 civilians, five children and a cameraman. The soldiers were killed in an ambush by Hamas militants.

Despite the escalation yesterday, Israel appears to be trying to avoid a major confrontation due to the upcoming Passover holiday as well as the planned 60th Independence Day and visit by U.S. President George Bush. But security officials believe that yesterday's barrage of 26 Qassam rockets on the Western Negev may be a sign that residents of the area will spend their seders in their shelters. The incident yesterday in which three soldiers from Givati Brigade's Tsabar battalion were killed occurred at 6:15 A.M. opposite Kibbutz Be'eri. An army surveillance unit spotted two Palestinians approach the border fence carrying explosives. A company of 11 soldiers and an officer was sent in to engage the cell in Palestinian territory. Soldiers tried to encircle the cell but because of hazy conditions in the area, neither the officer nor the surveillance unit spotted an additional force of four Hamas men who were covering for the cell from a nearby hill. The officer and his company walked right into the trap: Four militants opened fire from less than 100 meters away. The fusillade mortally wounded Corporal Matan Ovadati,19, of Moshav Patish, Sergeant David Papian, 21, of Tel Aviv, and Sergeant Menhash al-Banyat, 20, from a Bedouin village in the Negev. Three other soldiers were hurt, two moderately and another lightly. The company returned fire but was in an inferior position and had difficulty identifying the source of fire. Another company, which was sent as reinforcements, hit one of the Hamas militants but he was carried away by the other five gunmen who retreated unscathed.

Those who expect an easy war in Gaza will be unpleasantly surprised, doubly so if Israel launches an offensive in the future. Yesterday IDF helicopters were scrambled to cover for the troops that were ambushed. Suspects believed to have been armed and dangerous were spotted, and a missile was launched at them. Some 12 children were killed in the resulting explosion. Earlier, in a separate operation by Givati in east Gaza, four Hamas gunmen were killed. Despite the fighting, it seems Israel is better off postponing a large-scale ground operation in Gaza.

A relative calm had prevailed for a few weeks since the Givati Brigade's "Warm Winter" operation in early March, in which some 120 Palestinians were killed. Both sides showed restraint as Egypt tried to broker a deal between them. But the lull in fighting ended in late March when several Palestinian factions decided to increase the firing of Qassam rockets on Israel. Hamas militants gradually joined them when they sent cells to carry out attacks on IDF soldiers near the border.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/975700.html