5 Israeli Troops İnjured İn Northern Gaza

Five Israeli troops were injured by a mortar in northern Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli media said.



Israel Radio added that the troops were taken to hospital for treatment, describing the conditions of two of them as "moderate" and the remaining three as "light".



The Israeli army has yet to comment on this report.



Since July 7, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with fierce aerial bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire from the strip, leaving 1216 people dead and more than 7000 others injured.



The vast majority of the dead and injured victims are civilians: children, women and elderly people. 



Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rocket at Israeli cities in response to relentless Israeli bombardments.



According to official Israeli figures, 53 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed since the hostilities began.



Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.



In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians were killed in Israel's three-week-long operation "Cast Lead."



By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout



englishnews@aa.com.tr



www.aa.com.tr/en - Kudüs