38 Palestinians killed in two days
100 Israeli tanks roll into Gaza
AFP, Gaza
At least six Palestinians were killed on Friday in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, just hours after around 100 Israeli tanks moved deep into the area to try to stop militant rocket attacks on Israel. The latest campaign, which began three days ago and in which 44 Palestinians, 32 only on Thursday, and five Israelis have died, intensified after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave a green light to a larger operation codenamed "Days of Penitence". Troops readied to take control of a six-kilometre (four-mile) deep buffer zone in the northern Gaza Strip to keep militants and rockets away from targets in southern Israel, just across the border, an official told AFP on Friday. Two Israeli children were killed in a rocket attacks on Sderot town on the second day of the offensive. The official, a close aide to Sharon, said the operation could broaden and "be more aggressive" if militant rocket attacks continue. Thirty-five tanks were seen entering Beit Hanun, while another 30 were seen pushing into Beit Lahiya and 30 more spotted moving into the eastern sector of Jabaliya, all in northern Gaza, local residents said. Israel's security cabinet Thurs-day approved a broadening of the operation, which it said was open-ended but would not be "a permanent occupation". Members of the security cabinet have been allegedly pressing for the army to carry out a second "Defensive Shield-style" operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli radio said. Launched in March 2002, that operation saw the army reoccupy most of the West Bank in a bid to detain Palestinian militants and end a spate of suicide bombings. But the Sharon aide speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity on Friday said that the means put at the army's disposal in the current raid were "consequent" but "not yet comparable to those used during Operation Defensive Shield." He said that Operation Day of Penitence would be limited only "if it quickly fulfills its objective to completely stop rocket fire." "The activity in Gaza has one clear overriding aim -- to prevent the firing of Qassam rockets at Sderot and the firing of mortar shells at Jewish settlements in Gaza," Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said while meeting troops about to be deployed in the northern Gaza Strip "This activity will take time -- it's not easy, it's complex," he warned.
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