"Israel" commits another massacre against Palestinian people killing 20 mostly civilians, one "Israeli" soldier kill

Father of captured soldier, urged "Israel" to consider a prisoner exchange - "Israel" flatly refused
Source: AFP, 6-7-2007
GAZA CITY - Twenty Palestinians and an "Israeli" soldier were killed as "Israel" thrust deep into the Gaza Strip in its largest and deadliest operation in months, reoccupying areas evacuated 10 months ago.
The "Israeli" army created a buffer zone in northern Gaza as it widened its offensive against the Palestinians, upping the pressure on the embattled Hamas-led government to free a captured soldier and stop rocket attacks.
In response, the Hamas government ordered its security forces on high alert and urged all Palestinians to take up arms against the "Israeli" military.
One "Israeli" soldier was shot dead in fighting in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, a killing claimed by one of the Palestinian militant groups behind last week`s abduction of 19-year-old corporal Gilad Shalit.
After night fell, "Israel" launched an air strike on Beit Lahiya, killing three Palestinians and bringing the overall number of dead Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday to 20, mostly civilians.
Troops also entered the Palestinian territory deeper in the south, in a two-pronged attack that marked a further escalation in the spiralling crisis that erupted after the June 25 capture of the soldier.
In the West Bank, "Israeli" forces detained the deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament and launched an incursion into a refugee camp in the northern city of Jenin, wounding seven Palestinians including militants.
In the worst incident Thursday, 11 Palestinians were killed, including two fighters loyal to Hamas, in an "Israeli" bombardment on Beit Lahiya, medics said.
Bloodstained bodies could be seen huddled together as the wounded frantically carried other victims caked in blood through the streets.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya slammed the assault as "collective punishment" on his people and demanded international intervention.
The massive pre-dawn land and air assault on Gaza sent terrified residents scurrying from their homes with babies and belongings.
In northern Gaza, ground forces advanced around five kilometres (three miles) into the territory in a bid to expand a unilaterally declared security zone aimed at preventing rocket attacks.
Further troops massed around the towns of Beit Hanun and moved into two neighbourhoods of Beit Lahiya in the deepest "Israeli" ground operation since Shalit was seized 11 days ago, sparking the worst Middle East crisis in months.
An "Israeli" soldier was shot dead and two others lightly wounded in clashes with Palestinian militants in the al-Atatra neighbourhood of Beit Lahiya.
The Popular Resistance Committees, one of the Palestinian groups that claimed Shalit`s abduction last week along with the armed wing of Hamas and the Army of Islam, said it was behind the killing.
"Israeli" forces took over the remains of the Dugit, Elei Sinai and Nissanit settlements, razed last year as part of "Israel's" historic pullout from Gaza that had meant to draw the curtain on a 38-year occupation.
The return of the troops to Gaza has evoked memories of the army`s disastrous invasion of Lebanon where its soldiers became bogged down from 1982 until 2000 before pulling out of a self-declared buffer zone.
Dozens of Palestinian families in northern Gaza, fearing for their lives when confronted with the ominous sight of approaching "Israeli" armour, fled their homes. Women clutching babies and a few belongings scurried away on foot toward a line of waiting taxis amid the boom of gunfire.
The offensive has sparked concerns of a humanitarian fall-out with the 1.4 million residents of the largely impoverished Gaza already grappling with food and water shortages, fuel and power cuts.
Palestinians believe "Israel" is using the soldier`s capture as an excuse to try to topple the government led by Hamas.
"If you return Gilad Shalit home safe and sound and if you stop your rocket attacks, we will withdraw our forces," Defence (War) Minister Amir Peretz said in comments addressed to the Palestinians on army radio.
The commander of "Israel's" southern region, Yoav Galant, admitted that troops had encountered "fierce resistance" in parts of Gaza.
"Our objective is to keep rocket attacks at bay, so that those who fire them will pay such a heavy price that they will give up," he said.
An unprecedented Hamas rocket attack Tuesday in the centre of the Mediterranean city of Ashkelon saw "Israel's" security cabinet order the army to step up its assault and section off parts of Gaza.
"Israel" has already bombed the Gaza offices of both the Hamas premier and interior minister, raided multiple militant targets and arrested a third of the cabinet in the occupied West Bank.
But repeated international calls for restraint have largely fallen on deaf ears in what has become the worst Middle East crisis since Hamas came to power in March and Olmert formally took the helm in May.
"Israel" has vowed to unleash its full military might on Gaza, while Hamas` armed wing has warned of a "new era of violence" against the Jewish (Zionist) state.
"The interior ministry issues a state of alert for security services and calls on all members to set about their religious and moral duty to fight against the "Israeli" aggression," interior ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal told a press conference.
He called on "all Palestinians" to join the armed struggle against the "Israeli" army.
Noam Shalit, the father of the captured corporal, urged "Israel" to consider a prisoner exchange -- conditions flatly ruled out by the "Israeli" government.