Word: gaza
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...standoff in Gaza over a captured Israeli soldier on Thursday produced the most intense military clashes of the current round of conflict, as Israeli troops, tanks and aircraft battled Palestinian militants in the northern part of the territory. It also produced the highest casualty toll in an Israeli military operation since 2004. More than 20 Palestinians - some of them reportedly civilians - and one Israeli soldier were killed. Two Israeli soldiers were also wounded, as were around 40 Palestinians...
...stated aim of the Israeli campaign at its outset was to free Cpl. Gilad Shalit, a soldier captured by militants during a raid on an army outpost on the Israeli side of the border. Israel has conducted air strikes throughout the Gaza Strip, but the initial focus of the ground effort was on the south, where it is believed Shalit is being held. Further incursions soon followed in northern Gaza, provoking intense fighting in the neighborhoods of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, just inside the border with Israel. Israeli officials say their purpose in the north is to prevent militants...
...RPGs, and the Israelis firing from tanks and other armored vehicles positioned between homes on village streets, and later calling in support from helicopter gunships. Israeli officials say their soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper, while the Palestinian fatalities came from missile and artillery fire in northern Gaza, and also in the southern town of Khan Yunis, according to witnesses, hospital officials the Israeli military's own account. By nightfall, the Israelis had pushed several miles into Gaza, toward the main cities in the north, and taken over more houses for use as outposts...
...Israeli officials insist their operation is a temporary one in response to specific circumstances. But the incursion appears to have escalated the confrontation with the militant groups, potentially drawing Israel ever deeper into Gaza. Israeli efforts over recent months to halt Qassam fire have not worked. The diplomatic and military efforts undertaken in pursuit of freeing the captive soldier have not, it appears, yielded the breakthrough that might bring him home. And the fact that Israel is also targeting the political infrastructure of the Hamas government suggests that no matter how limited the objectives of the current campaign, its impact...
...that history is too ancient, consider the history of the past 12 months. Gaza is free of occupation, yet Gaza wages war. Why? Because this war is not about occupation, but about Israel's very existence. The so-called cycle will continue until the arrow is abandoned and the Palestinians accept a compromise--or until the arrow finds its mark and Israel dies...