JERUSALEM
A high-ranking Israeli general on Sunday described the battles the Israeli army fights in the Gaza Strip as both tough and complicated.
The Chief of Staff of the Israeli army Benny Gantz said battles in some part of the Gaza Strip are both tough and complicated.
Even with this, he said the Israeli army would maintain its current operation on the Palestinian coastal enclave until it achieves its objectives, the website of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
On Sunday, the Israeli army conceded that 13 soldiers were killed in battles with Palestinians in different parts of the Gaza Strip late on Saturday and early on Sunday.
The new fatalities bring to 18 the number of Israeli military personnel killed since Israel started its military incursion into Gaza on Thursday.
Gantz said the Israeli army is aware that some people will be killed in the battles.
Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip since July 7 with the stated aim of undermining the ability of Gaza-based resistance movements to launch rocket attacks against its cities.
Around 425 Gazans, including 112 children, were killed and 3008 others injured as a result of the Israeli operation so far, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout
www.aa.com.tr/en
