Palestinian officials and witnesses said at least seven tanks, along with armored personnel carriers, entered the abandoned settlement of Nissanit, one of ‘s former settlements in northern
Troops were reported to have earlier taken control of several houses in Bait Hanoun and skirmished with Hamas fighters.
‘s cabinet had decided on Wednesday to send the military, which had been carrying out small operations in northern
The movement by Israeli forces into Nissanit appeared to be part of that new offensive.
An Israeli military spokeswoman denied tanks had been moved to the former settlement sites in
Five Israeli tanks and armored vehicles were seen making their way very slowly into the old settlement while two other tanks took up positions atop a nearby hill as bulldozers built sand embankments around them.
On Wednesday, one person was injured by a Palestinian rocket that hit
An earlier rocket fired by Hamas hit a vacant schoolyard. There were no casualties in that attack, but it was the first time that a makeshift rocket had reached so far and threatened a large Israeli population centre.
The Israeli security cabinet on Wednesday discussed establishing a buffer zone in northern
A spokesman for Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, denied that the cabinet had approved the formation of such a zone, but officials said ministers had agreed that a standing plan by the army to form a buffer zone could be an effective way to prevent rocket fire.
"Given the abduction and continued ballistic salvoes, including the [rocket] launched at
The statement from Olmert’s office said his security cabinet had approved strikes against Hamas Islamists in
