Friday 18 July 2014
Israel-Gaza conflict: IDF begins ground offensive
‘Israel has begun a major ground invasion of the Gaza Strip after a day of fierce fighting between its forces and Hamas that saw three more Palestinian children killed in an airstrike.
During a period of unusually intense shelling late today, the lights went out across parts of Gaza as the power was cut and the skyline was then lit by what appeared to be flares fired ahead of the assault.
Heavy fighting was reported to be taking place in the north of the Strip, in the Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya areas and also in Khan Younis and Rafah. Artillery fire, believed to be mortar and howitzer, was coming from the north intermittently, with rockets from Gaza arcing towards Israel.’
