Gaza/Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli ground troops backed by tanks and helicopters have invaded the Gaza Strip on the eighth day of a major offensive on the tiny coastal territory.

Heavy fighting has been reported, with both sides claiming to inflict losses on the other. Reports of casualties are nearly impossible to verify during the nighttime incursion.

The Hamas-affiliated television station based in Gaza reported that five Israeli soldiers had been killed in the fighting, but an Israeli military spokesman said he had no information about casualties on either side.

Separately, medical officials at the local hospital in the town of Beit Hanoun, the northernmost town in the Strip, said the bodies of four dead Palestinians had arrived.

Earlier in the day Israeli airstrikes killed at least 19 Palestinians in Beit Lahiya, Rafah and Ash-Shuja'ieyah earlier in the day. At least 465 Palestinians have been killed and some 2300 injured over eight days of intense Israeli shelling and air bombardment.

Al-Jazeera television said Israeli troops had been observed moving into Gaza from three points in the north of the Strip and two more in the center and south. The Israeli military spokesman would only confirm that ground forces “are operating throughout the Gaza Strip.”

It appears Israeli forces have not yet entered the densely-populated areas in Gaza City and the surrounding refugee camps. However, residents of Gaza City told Ma’an that American-made Israeli F16 warplanes and Apache helicopters continue to strike every 10 to 15 minutes.

Palestinian fighters affiliated to the Popular Resistance Committees said they detonated a 50 kilogram bomb near in Hayeh Zaytoun, near Gaza City. Palestinian gunmen have also been seen using anti-tank missiles.

Palestinians in the besieged Strip are hunkered down in fear as Israeli warplanes continue to strike. During a phone interview with one resident of Gaza City, explosions could be heard in the background.

Israel: long invasion ahead

All public statements from the Israeli government point to a long operation.

Israeli military spokesperson Avi Benayahu told Israeli Channel Two, "This is not going to be a school trip. We are talking about long days."

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak held a televised press conference during which he said, "The ground assault on Gaza, will be expanded in order to bring calm and stop the rocket fire." He also ordered a state of alert along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

The decision to carry out a ground invasion came during a meeting held by the Israeli cabinet during a secret session on Friday. According to an Israeli spokesperson the cabinet specified targets of the invasion, intended to "to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations."

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the aim of the invasion, Phase Two of the ongoing offensive on Gaza, is intended to take control of border areas from which Palestinians fire homemade rockets.

”A graveyard”

As the ground invasion began, Hamas leader Isma'il Radwan and Hamas movement spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum held a press conference broadcast from an undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip.

Radwan said Gaza would become a “graveyard” for Israeli soldiers. He called on Arab countries to open borders with Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Hamas’ military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades warned in a statement that Israel would pay a heavy toll in the ground confrontations in the Gaza Strip.

Airstrikes

According to Ma’an’s reporter in Gaza, three Palestinians; a child, a woman and an elderly man have been killed in Israeli air strike on Ash-Shuja'yya neighborhood in Gaza City. A gas station in the area caught fire after is was bombed from the air

An orphanage and a mosque were targeted at Ar-Rimal neighborhood in the center of Gaza City, and one man was killed.

Meanwhile, a number of people from Abu Khusa family were injured as Israeli warplanes launched missiles at the town of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces also shelled the presidential compound known as As-Saraya in Gaza City was shelled again, after bombarding it in the opening days of the current offensive.

Massive force

Since last Saturday, tens of thousands of Israeli reservists were called up in advance of the invasion. By some reports, 9,000 troops were stationed along the border. It is impossible to measure at this time how many of those were ordered to breach the border.

A reporter for Israel's Channel Two satellite television station, Roni Daniel, said that exchanges of fire have been reported between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza. Hamas also said that its fighters had exchanged fire with the invading forces.

More reservists have been called for the beginning Israeli ground invasion, Daniel added.

The Israeli cabinet also approved the arrival of thousands of reservists in accordance with top military leaders' requests.