Israel/Palestine
In reply to the discussion: Israel launches ground incursion in Gaza Strip [View all]bemildred
(90,061 posts)(Reuters) - Israeli tanks and bulldozers dug in across a mile-wide strip of Gaza's eastern frontier on Saturday, and Palestinian officials said military strikes had killed more than 300 people, most of them civilians.
Israel sent in ground forces on Thursday after 10 days of air and naval barrages failed to stop rocket fire from Gaza.
The military said its engineers were concentrating on a buffer zone 2.5 km (1.5 mile) wide and were looking to destroy concealed rocket launch pads and tunnels dug by Gaza's dominant Hamas Islamists after the last big flare-up of violence in 2012.
Hamas said its fighters used one such tunnel to slip into Israel on Saturday, inflicting casualties. The Israeli military confirmed the incident near central Gaza, saying it killed one militant, repelled the rest, and four soldiers were wounded.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/19/us-palestinians-israel-idUSKBN0FI04420140719