Israeli Ground Forces Cross Gaza Border
Israeli tanks and infantry pushed into Gaza after nightfall Saturday, launching a much anticipated ground offensive in a widening war on Gaza's Hamas rulers.
CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports that Israeli tanks and troops are crossing the border, and that there are approximately 10,000 Israeli soldiers deployed on the Gaza frontier, including elite infantry units, the engineering corps and special forces.
Gun battles could be heard, as troops crossed the border into Gaza. Local TV networks broadcast images of troops marching single file. The troops were also backed by helicopter gunships.
Israeli security officials said the operation is likely to go on, but that the objective is not to reoccupy Gaza. The depth and intensity will also depend on parallel diplomatic efforts, the officials said.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel's campaign "won't be easy and it won't be short."
"We do not seek war but we will not abandon our citizens to the ongoing Hamas attacks," Barak said in a televised address.
With Israeli ground forces in Gaza, the French government - in its role as president of the Security Council - called emergency consultations late Saturday, reports CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.
But the United States blocked approval of a Security Council statement calling for an immediate Israeli-Hamas cease-fire in Gaza and southern Israel and expressing serious concern at the escalation of violence.
U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week's council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, would not do credit to the council."
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, the current council president, announced that there was no agreement on a statement though he said there were "strong convergences" among the 15 members to express serious concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the need for "an immediate, permanent and fully respected cease-fire."
Arab nations demanded that the council adopt a presidential statement calling for an immediate cease-fire following Israel's launch of the ground offensive.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had made the same plea earlier Saturday.
Ban said in a statement that he was "deeply concerned over the serious further escalation" of violence in Gaza.
The statement said Ban had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "and conveyed his extreme concern and disappointment" at the invasion.
Libya's U.N. Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, the only Arab member of the council, said that during the closed council discussions on the proposed presidential statement, the United States said it objected to "any outcome." He said efforts were made to compromise and agree on a weaker press statement but "unfortunately" there was no consensus.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and several Arab foreign ministers are flying to New York over the weekend to urge the Security Council to adopt an Arab draft resolution that would condemn Israel and demand a halt to its bombing campaign in Gaza.
The Israeli government, meanwhile, said that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being mobilized. The military did not give out specific numbers, but it said it has expanded a call-up of some 9,000 reserve soldiers that began earlier this week.
Some of these reservists are being mobilized as a warning to Palestinian militants in the West Bank and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon who fought a monthlong war with Israel in the summer of 2006.
Berger says that Israeli forces plan to seize control of Hamas rocket launching sites, which is a risky move - Hamas has dug in to bunkers and tunnels, and is well-armed.
Israeli army spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said it would be an extensive operation. "We have many, many targets," she said, adding that Hamas has been digging smuggling tunnels and other facilities. "To my estimation, it will be a lengthy operation," she said.
Heavy gun battles were reported as troops crossed the border into Gaza. Local TV networks broadcast images of troops marching into Gaza after dark.
A Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan, appeared on Hamas' Al Aqsa TV and said that Gaza will "become a graveyard" for Israeli soldiers.
An SMS message sent by Hamas' military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam, said that "the Zionists started approaching the trap which our fighters prepared for them."
Hamas said it also broadcast a Hebrew message on Israeli military radio frequencies. "Be prepared for a unique surprise, you will be either killed or kidnapped and will suffer mental illness from the horrors we will show you," the message said.
"Hamas is believed to have some 20,000 to 25,000 men under arms, many of which … have trained with Hezbollah in Lebanon and with the Revolutionary Guards in Iran," David Schenker of the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute told the CBS Evening News.
The Israelis are likely to encounter RPGs, roadside bombs, and booby traps, Schenker said.
But Schenker added that Israel had likely learned a lesson from its less-than-convincing results in its 2006 conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"They learned that their troops were not trained for this type of warfare. They focused on this for the past two years," he said. "They're also not taking half measures here. … They're going to go in full force and I think that's something they didn't do in Lebanon in 2006 and that's why you had type of result that you had."
Defense officials have said around 10,000 soldiers massed along the border in recent days. Heavy artillery fire in the early evening was intended to detonate Hamas explosive devices and mines planted along the border area before troops marched in.
Israel's offensive against Hamas had begun with a week of aerial bombardment of Hamas targets, in an attempt to halt Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. However, Hamas kept firing at Israeli towns.
Israel initially held off on a ground offensive, apparently in part because of concern about casualties among Israeli troops and because of fears of getting bogged down in Gaza. Hamas leaders have warned that they have prepared a violent welcome. They have also threatened to resume suicide attacks inside Israel.
Israeli tanks and infantry soldiers entered Gaza after dark, but stayed close to the border area, witnesses said. Heavy artillery fire hit east of Gaza City, in locations where Hamas fighters were deployed.
The Israelis were also backed by helicopter gunships.
There were tentative signs that the phase of aerial attacks was nearing its end; most of the recent airstrikes targeted empty buildings and abandoned sites, suggesting the Israeli air force was running out of targets.
More than 440 Palestinians have been killed in the past week and the U.N. says that more than 2,000 have been wounded, "a significant number of them" women and children.
Four Israelis have also been killed, and rocket attacks on southern Israel persist.
Early Saturday, the army preceded airstrikes with a drop of leaflets in downtown Gaza City asking people to evacuate.
But, as CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar noted, most have absolutely no place to go … and there is no place anyone could be sure to be safe.