IDF Troops Move Into Tel Hawwa Neighborhood of Gaza City

The Israelis are not speaking publicly whether or not the Cast Lead Operation has entered a new phase but the big news is how IDF troops and tanks have moved into the crowded fringe neighborhood of Tel Hawwa in Gaza City. This is a big move for the IDF as they move into Gaza City itself and I see this as signaling to Hamas that there time is up. Here's some of the details from the report at YNET News:

Israeli tanks shelled downtown Gaza City on Thursday and ground troops thrust deep into the crowded Tel Hawwa neighborhood for the first time, sending thousands of terrified residents fleeing for cover and increasing pressure on Hamas rulers to accept a proposed ceasefire to end Israel's devastating offensive.

Israel has balked at all-out urban warfare in the narrow alleyways of Gaza's big cities, where Hamas militants are more familiar with the lay of the land and Israeli casualties would be liable to spiral. But Palestinian witnesses said Israeli tanks fired shells at least three high-rise buildings in the downtown area as ground troops advanced into a crowded residential area on the outskirts of the city.

Let's face it - Gaza City is loaded with Hamas at this very moment. This city represents the best safe haven in the entire Gaza Strip for Hamas as most of them probably didn't think the IDF would venture into the city. The issue for the IDF now is how resolved they will be when they start to take some heavy casualties - and they will as that is a given for walking into the ambush rich streets of Gaza City.

But at this very moment, there are some very nervous Hamas leaders hunkered down in Gaza City - I wouldn't be surprised to see some real flurries of activity in Egypt today regarding the ceasefire talks.

IDF advancing in Gaza; thousands fleeing homes

The Israeli military would not discuss its operations and it was not clear whether the intensified assault on Gaza City signaled a new phase in the three-week-old Israeli campaign that Gaza health officials say has already killed more than 1,000 Palestinians. Thirteen Israelis have been killed since the offensive began, according to the military.

Israel has balked at all-out urban warfare in the narrow alleyways of Gaza's big cities, where Hamas militants are more familiar with the lay of the land and Israeli casualties would be liable to spiral. But Palestinian witnesses said Israeli tanks fired shells at least three high-rise buildings in the downtown area as ground troops advanced into a crowded residential area on the outskirts of the city.

Earlier Palestinian sources reported that a woman and her three children in an IDF attack in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. The attack was apparently not an air raid.

According to the Palestinians, 24 people have been killed by IDF fire since the early morning hours, including five in an attack on a building in the Sheikh Zaid neighborhood near Beit Lahiya. Two more Palestinians were killed during an Israeli attack that took place near the home of senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Zahar. Another two people were killed when a vehicle was hit as it was travelling in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood.

Sources in the Strip said four people were killed from IDF artillery fire in south Gaza, and the bodies of 15 others were pulled from the rubble of a number of structures throughout the Strip.