Katyushas strike northern Israel

In Gaza, an IDF officer was killed in a fire-fight with Hamas.

Four Katyushas were fired against the Western Galilee at 7:30 am today. One struck an old age home in Nahariya. No air raid sirens were sounded ahead of the strike.

In fighting against Hamas in Gaza, an IDF officer was killed and another soldier lightly wounded this morning during a fire-fight. The soldiers, from the Kfir infantry brigade, were hit by an anti-tank missile.

Sources in Lebanon claimed the rockets were fired by a Palestinian organization.

The hospital in Nahariya reported that eighteen people were injured, including three with light injuries and fifteen suffering from shock. The state of alert in the region has been raised and 150 ambulances have been sent to the north as reinforcements.

IDF artillery responded to sources of the fire.

The IDF Home Front Command has ordered residents of the Western Galilee to remain in or near their protected rooms at home. The IDF Northern Command has believed for several days that terrorist squads would try to approach Israel's border with Lebanon in order to launch Katyushas.

Meanwhile, Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in the Gaza Strip continued last night on both the ground and from the sea and air. The Air Force struck 60 targets, based on intelligence sources, including the homes of two senior Hamas commanders, a mosque used as a weapons storage facility, a Hamas police building, tunnels, weapons caches, rocket launching sites, and armed gunmen.

One IDF soldier was lightly wounded in the overnight activity.

Cease-fire efforts are also continuing. According to news reports, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has invited Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for meeting to discuss Egyptian proposals. Olmert accepted the invitation, and said that he would go after a cabinet meeting to discuss the proposals. In preparation for these talks, Ministry of Defense diplomatic-military bureau director Amos Gilad will go to Cairo today to discuss arrangements for the Philadelphi corridor on the Gaza-Sinai border with Egyptian officials, as well as Egyptian involvement in curtailing arms smuggling into Gaza Strip.

The US is also involved in the cease-fire efforts.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 8, 2009

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009

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