Summary of Today’s Events, 9 Jan 2009, 23:03 IST

DOTZ

9 January 2009

Summary of Today’s Events


IDF Infantry Corps, Armored Corps, Engineering Corps, Artillery Corps and Intelligence Corps forces continue to operate throughout the Gaza Strip with the support of the Israel Air Force and the Israel Navy.


Throughout Friday (Jan. 9) IDF forces operating in the Gaza Strip hit armed terror operatives in different incidents. An IDF ground force located a house rigged with land mines. Another force identified anti-tank missiles being fired at them, answered with precise fire and identified hitting the terror operatives having fired the missiles. In addition, a house used by the terrorists who shot and killed Sergeant Amit Robinson on Thursday (Jan. 8 ) was targeted by IDF forces.

The IAF attacked over 70 targets since the morning, including:

  • Fifteen rocket launching sites
  • A charged launcher
  • A number of launching squads that launched rockets to Ashkelon earlier during the day
  • Three houses of Hamas terror operatives also used as weapons storage facilities
  • Two tunnels used for the smuggling of weaponry
  • Twenty terrorist sites targeted to support the Ground Forces
  • A disguised mortar shell
  • Twenty terror operatives
  • Four weapons storage facilities
  • A vehicle with armed terror operatives

IN forces hit at least ten armed terror operatives during Thursday night’s ( Jan. 8 ) operation. They continued giving support to the Ground Forces throughout the night.

An IDF soldier was moderately wounded and two additional soldiers were lightly wounded during the day.

More than thirty rockets were fired at Israel throughout the day.

Forty one trucks loaded with humanitarian aid were transferred into the Gaza Strip.

Captured Hamas Intelligence, 9 Jan 2009, 16:26 IST

Confiscated Intelligence Map from Hamas

Confiscated Intelligence Map from Hamas

Hamas turn a Gaza neighborhood into a warzone.

This map, confiscated Wednesday (Jan. 7) by IDF paratroopers operating in the north of Gaza, shows how Hamas uses an entire neighborhood, rigging it with explosive devices and putting the entire civilian population at great risk. The map shows the al-Tatraa neighborhood in Gaza City divided into three areas of operation (red, blue and green). The dots on the map indicate where Hamas operatives had planted a variety of IEDs (improvised explosive devices), with the colors indicating the type of IED. Additional marks show sniper positions next to mosques. Next to the entrance of the el-Tawid mosque near to Shauuda Plaza at the top left of the map there is a sniper posting with marking indicating the direction of fire marked on the map. At the bottom center of the map there is a gas station where Hamas planted an IED which, if activated, could cause a very large explosion throughout the neighborhood.

An overall study of the map demonstrates how Hamas deliberately uses civilians, using them as live targets and hiding behind them; they plant IEDs at the enterances of homes, they booby trap homes and they use places of worship, all with no regard to collateral damage or civilian lives.

IDF Map of Rocket Ranges 9 Jan 2009

rocketrangesmapA map showing the ranges of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. The grey area refers to mortar shells, the yellow to kassam rockets, the orange improvised kassam rockets and Grade missiles, the red area refers to the range of upgraded Grade missiles. In total, nearly one million civilians living in the south of Israel are in danger from Hamas rocket fire.

Summary of Overnight Operations, 9 Jan 2009, 07:54 IST

DOTZ

Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 7:54 AM

Summary of IDF Operations Overnight


In the last half hour four Grad rockets hit the Beer Sheva region.

IDF Infantry Corps, Armored Corps, Engineering Corps, Artillery Corps and Intelligence Corps forces continued to operate against Hamas terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip during the night.

Humanitarian aid is expected to be transferred into Gaza via Kerem Shalom Crossing today. Yesterday Israel transferred 89 humanitarian aid trucks to Gaza via Kerem Shalom Crossing. 315,000 liters of fuel and 143 tons of natural gas were transferred through Nahal Oz Terminal, and 223 Gazan foreign nationals were permitted entry to Israel following requests from their respective governments.

The IAF attacked more than 50 terrorist infrastructure sites throughout the night, including the following:

  • Five rocket launching sites, one of which next to a mosque
  • A weapons storage facility
  • A vehicle garage and an office, both used for terrorist operations
  • Five weapon manufacturing sites
  • Groups of armed gunmen
  • Hamas operational centers and outposts

The Israel Navy operated in the area of Deir El Balah in the central Gaza Strip, targeting Hamas rocket launching sites in order to thwart attempts to fire rockets at Israeli communities.

The IDF will continue its operations against all terrorists and those who support them.