Israel-Hamas war, Day 6IAF begins heavy bombardment of residential areas in north Gaza

As we predicted yesterday (“Israel-Hamas war, Day 5: Israel to focus on Hamas tunnel system, then seek a “Syrian solution” to Hamas problem,” HSNW, 12 July 2014), the Israel Air Force (IAF) earlier this morning showered Palestinian urban areas in north Gaza with leaflets giving residents until today (Sunday) at noon (Israel time) to evacuate their homes ahead of massive Israeli bombardment of these area.

The leaflets were accompanied by calls to every home phone and cell phone of residents in the area (Israel has all these phone numbers), and radio and TV broadcasts in Arabic.

There are two goals for the forthcoming bombardment:

• Israel says that 36 percent of all rockets fired into Israel were launched from north Gaza, and 30 percent of the mid-range rockets fired at Israel, were fired from that area. Also, 10 percent of all rockets were launched from residential areas in Beit Lahia. The first goal of the bombardment will thus be the destruction of launchers located among residential buildings in the area. If the residents evacuate their homes, the IAF will be able to use heavier ordinance which might destroy the buildings next to the launch sites, but will not kill civilians.
• The second goal of the bombardment will be to destroy Hamas tunnels under Beit Lahia. There are, however, fewer tunnels in north Gaza than in soutgh Gaza because ground water in the north are closer to the surface, making the digging of tunnels more difficult.

Hamas, in an effort to forestall the Israeli attack by keeping Palestinian civilians as a human shield, has publicly ordered the residents to stay put, branding those who leave as collaborators with the “Zionist enemy.”

So far, about a third of the residents have left.

Israel has just begun a heavy bombardment on the outskirts of Beit Lahia in order to remind residents that Israel is serious.

The other main developments on Day 6 of the Israel-Hamas war:

• The number of Palestinians killed so far has reached 167
• That number includes eighteen Palestinian who were killed last night in and near the home of Hamas police chief Tayseer Al-Batsh in Gaza City. IAF drones identified eight Hamas operatives readying a mid-range rocket for launch from a launch site situated next to Al-Batsh’s home and was about to target them, but they ran into the home, seeking cover among Al-Batsh’s family members who were at home at the time. The IAF decided to go ahead and bomb the home without the usual warning for those inside to evacuate – which would have allowed the eight Hamas members to flee – and the home was bombed, killing the Hamas operatives and critically injuring Al-Batsh, but also killing nine civilians – some in the home and the others who were leaving a neighborhood mosque. The IDF said it was investigating the incident.
• The number of Hamas targets destroyed has reached 1,200
• Hamas has so far launched more than 800 rockets into Israel – including one rocket which fell in an empty field 160 km north of the Gaza Strip
• Since the beginning of the war last Tuesday, one of Israel’s most secretive commando units, Shayete 13 (the equivalent of the U.S. Navy SEALS) has been quietly operating behind the lines inside the Gaza Strip, focusing on destroying Hamas missile storage depots. A Shayetet 13 squad last night got involved in a fire-fight with Hamas fighters who were guarding a mid-range missile storage site on the beach near the city of Sudanya, and four Shayete 13 soldiers were lightly wounded. The Shayetet 13 soldiers were probably on the ground to “beam” the target so that precise munitions could be dropped from the air. The storage site was destroyed, and several Hamas fighters were killed.