Israeli soldiers and Hamas fighters traded fierce gunfire on the streets of Gaza City Tuesday as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas accused the Jewish state of trying to "wipe out" his people. Israeli special forces backed by tanks and air strikes moved deeper into the largest city in Gaza, advancing several hundred meters into neighborhoods in the south, witnesses and correspondents said.
According to AFP, witnesses said the fighting was the most intense of the 18-day-old conflict. The clashes come as Israeli media predicted that the country's leadership may approve an expansion of its offensive in the Strip despite ongoing talks in Egypt on how to end a war launched to stop rocket fire.
On his part, Abbas said the Jewish state appeared intent on waging a war of extermination. "This is the 18th day of the Israeli aggression against our people, which is become more ferocious each day as the number of victims rises," Abbas said.
"Israel is keeping up this aggression to wipe out our people over there," he said at the opening of a meeting of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in his base in the West Bank. "Our people are holding up well. They continue to defend themselves and will never surrender."
On his part, the head of Israel's armed forces said Operation Cast Lead was making good progress but warned troops faced "complicated" conditions in Gaza City. "We have already achieved a lot against both Hamas's infrastructure and its military wing but we still have work to be done," Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi told lawmakers.
