January 6, 2009, 9:39 PM (GMT+02:00) 1st Sgt. Alexander Mashvitzki, 19, from Beesheba, was killed Tuesday, Jan. 6, when his combat engineering unit came under Hamas fire in Gaza City. Four of his comrades were injured. They took down the source of fire. In the past 24 hours, an Israeli paratroop officer and three Golani Brigade fighters have been killed accidentally by friendly fire, as Operation Cast Lead entered its third, crucial phase, of combat in populated areas of Gazan towns against Hamas fighters hiding in civilian homes with stocks of rockets – often in tunnels equipped with escape hatches. The Golani Brigade commander, Col. Avi Peled, who was slightly injured in the first incident, said in a TV interview that the cause of the incident, which occurred in a densely populated area under heavy mortar attack, was under investigation. He said Hamas was putting up resistance but falling back as Israel troops moved forward. An Israeli military spokesman said Israeli forces shelled the UNWRA-run school in Jebalya killing 40 Palestinians in response to mortar fire from the building. There were secondary blasts from explosives cached inside. The casualties included the Hamas mortar unit and several Hamas commanders who had been hiding behind the backs of the civilian refugees. DEBKAfile's militlary sources report: In Gaza, Hamas has abdicated its responsibilities for governance and reverted to terrorist tactics – against the Palestinian population - in order to maximize civilian casualties for horror scenes to be broadcast across the world as pressure on Israel to stop fighting. Palestinians say whole families are locked in their homes from which Hamas open fire. Some are booby-trapped to blow up Israeli invaders with those families. After shedding their uniforms, Hamas operatives emerge from their bunkers to seize petrol stations and ambulances and grab most of the incoming food and medical aid carried in daily by hundreds of trucks from Israel and Egypt. Their firing stations are often located in schools. One huge explosives and weapons arsenal was uncovered next door to Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Hamas terrorists force small children to accompany them on combat missions. The Palestinian death toll from Israel's 11-day offensive is estimated in Gaza at 633 with thousands of injured overwhelming the hospitals. Yet Hamas continues to shoot rockets and missiles into Israel – 40 by Tuesday evening, half concentrated on Sderot. DEBKAfile Special Report January 7, 2009, 9:33 AM (GMT+02:00) The Israeli Gaza offensive has cut by half the daily missiles/ rocket level from Gaza by wiping out 60 percent of Hamas' missile stocks, demolishing its production facilities and knocking out of action the Philadelphi smuggling tunnels on the Egyptian border. However, DEBKAfile's military sources report that Hamas appears to have preserved an unused stock of Iran-made Fajr rockets capable of hitting central Israeli towns, such as Rehovot and Rishon Lezion, 16 km short of Tel Aviv. 
Sixth Israeli soldier killed in Gaza, UNWRA school used as Hamas firing position
Hamas loses 60% of its missiles, may still have long-range Fajr
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Wednesday, 7 January 2009
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