Israeli armoured vehicles enter southern Gaza

SHOTLIST
Kisufim, Israeli border with southern Gaza Strip
1. Israeli soldier walking by a row of armoured vehicles
2. Wide of forces at border
3. Soldiers standing next to tank
4. Medium of tank
5. Soldier looking out from tank
6. Soldier climbing on armoured personnel carrier
7. Medium of soldiers on army vehicle as sun sets
8. Army vehicles moving into Gaza Strip as sun sets
+++NIGHT PICTURES+++
9. Various of Israeli army vehicles moving into Gaza strip
STORYLINE
About 25 Israeli armoured vehicles briefly entered southern Gaza and clashed with militants after nightfall on Tuesday, just a day after Israel ended a destructive and bloody ground operation in northern Gaza against Palestinian rocket squads.
A baby was killed in the crossfire, a medical official said.
The armoured column entered Gaza through the Kissufim crossing, which was the main crossing point for Israeli settlers in Gaza before Israel’s 2005 pullout.
The soldiers arrested two Islamic Jihad militants and were pulling out two hours after the incursion, witnesses said.
The military confirmed that the operation was over.
Israeli defence officials said it was a “pinpoint” operation aimed at Gaza militants.
In clashes with Palestinian militants, the Israeli tanks fired shells and attack helicopters fired missiles.
A one-month-old baby girl was killed by a ricocheting bullet, Palestinian Health Ministry official Moaiya Hassanain said.
Also, eight militants and three civilians were wounded, none of then seriously, he said.
The focus was the border area near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
The brief operation came as some Israeli officials called for a large-scale invasion of Gaza to stop the rocket attacks, which this week have ranged as far as the coastal city of Ashkelon, 17 kilometres (11 miles) north of Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was quoted as saying that Israel might be forced to send troops back into the territory, but officials in her office clarified that she was referring to a military operation, not reoccupation.
“We cannot afford this kind of extreme Islamic state controlled by Hamas,” Livni told foreign diplomats in a meeting, according to a ministry statement released on Tuesday.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said often that a large-scale operation was nearing, indicating that Israel might try to overthrow the Hamas regime.
However, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, while warning of severe reprisals against Hamas, has hesitated to order a large invasion, expressing concern about the inevitably high casualties on both sides.

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