Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers and at least 61 Palestinians, including at least 29 civilians, were killed on Saturday in an ongoing IDF ground incursion near the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabaliya.
Sergeants Eran Dan-Gur, 20, of Jerusalem, and Doron Asulin, 20, of Be'er Sheva, were killed by Palestinian gunfire in two separate incidents early Saturday morning. They both served in the Givati Brigade and were posthumously raised in rank to staff sergeant.
Military sources report that the two died during the Givati Brigade's routine action against terrorist activity in the Jabaliya area in northern Gaza.
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Five other IDF soldiers were wounded during the fighting - three of them lightly and two others who suffered light to moderate wounds. The soldiers were evacuated to the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva for treatment.
Palestinians say that at least 29 civilians, including five children and three women, were among the dead in the raid that began before dawn Saturday.
Some 80 Gazans have been killed in IDF raids since Wednesday.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak called a late-night meeting of security commanders to discuss the situation, his office said in a statement on Saturday.
Gaza operation ongoing
The IDF and Israel Air Force continued to operate in the Gaza Strip over the course of Saturday.
Late Saturday evening, IAF planes killed one militant in an attack on the central Gaza town of al-Bureijj.
Just earlier, four Hamas militants were killed an airstrike on a police station in the southern town of Rafah. Palestinian witnesses said Israel targeted a prayer room next to the police station, which was destroyed.
Earlier Saturday evening, IAF planes struck a truck in northern Gaza carrying at least 160 rockets ready for launching at Israel.
Sources in Gaza report that earlier in the day IDF soldiers exchanged heavy gunfire with Palestinian gunmen on the eastern outskirts of Jabaliya, situated 2-3 kilometers from the fence which lies on the Israel-Gaza border.
The ground forces, which included units from Givati, the Armored Corps, and the Engineering Corps, received air support from the Israel Air Force.
They were met with heavy fire from Palestinian gunmen, mainly from Hamas, who used rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank missiles against the troops.
IAF planes launched missiles at groups of armed Palestinians during the clashes.
The dead Palestinian civilians are believed to include a 17-year-old girl and her 16-year-old brother, a 45-year-old man and his 20-year-old son, and two sisters thought to be in their early 20s.
Tareq Dardouna, a resident of the Jabaliya area, told The Associated Press that a relative was killed outside his home in the crossfire that began raging at 3 A.M.
"His body is still on the ground," Dardouna said in a telephone interview from his home, where he was tending to four wounded people. "Ambulances tried to come, but they came under fire. ... We are in a real war."
Hamas fighters were unbowed by the spiraling violence.
"The Zionist forces failed in Gaza before," said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing. "We will respond to any aggression... with every available means."
The sisters and another civilian were killed by tank shells that struck two houses in separate attacks, Palestinian officials said. Rescue teams evacuated a 7-month-old boy from one of the houses, unharmed.
An IDF spokesperson said the army would look into reports of tank shells hitting houses.
Senior officials said Saturday that the increasing number of Qassams fired at the western Negev has no bearing on the continued military raids into Gaza.
Rather than making due with pinpoint strikes against rocket launchers, the army is recommending a series of steps against Hamas targets in Gaza.
Witnesses said one clash erupted early Saturday when Hamas gunmen engaged IDF troops backed by helicopters that had entered the Gaza Strip.
IDF troops have been operating on the outskirts of Beit Hanun in the northern Strip since Thursday night.
