GAZA CITY/JERUSALEM
Palestinian fighters are engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli troops in the northern and southern of the besieged Gaza Strip, eyewitnesses said.
"Clashes between Palestinian resistance factions and the Israeli army are continuing as we speak," one eyewitness told Anadolu Agency in the early hours of Friday.
Locals said Israeli warplanes were firing rockets at the Palestinian fighters who were reportedly using anti-tank missiles and machine guns in the battle.
The Israeli army staged incursions into northern and southern Gaza Strip late on Thursday.
Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas, said it had blown up five explosive charges at a special Israeli unit that staged an incursion into Beit Lahia in the northern the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the group said its fighters were engaged in fierce clashes with the Israeli force.
The brigades said earlier that it had managed to blow an explosive charge in a military vehicle in Beit Lahia and also fire five rockets at concentrations of Israeli soldiers northern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army, meanwhile, admitted that an anti-tank missile had hit one of its bulldozers in southern Gaza Strip.
The army, however, added that none of its soldiers was injured in the attack.
The Israeli army said troops taking part in the ground operation against the Gaza Strip had received advance intensive training.
Israeli army spokesman Moti Almoz was quoted by the army's website as saying that major ground troops are now inside the Gaza Strip.
Israeli army spokesmen, however, remain tightlipped on the number of troops taking part in the operation.
When asked by Anadolu Agency, Avichay Adraee, another army spokesman, declined to answer a question about the number of troops taking part in the Gaza operation.
"Infantry, armored, engineering, artillery and intelligence troops are working in cooperation by sea and air," he tweeted.
The Israeli army on Thursday called up additional 18000 reservists following the start of a ground operation into the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli government had already called up 56000 troops for the military operation in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
It is not clear, however, how many soldiers had joined the ground operation in Gaza.
Palestinians have called for day of rage and massive demonstrations after the Friday prayers to protest the Gaza onslaught
Clashes erupted in the early hours of Friday between Palestinians and Israeli policemen inside Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the Bab al-Huta neighborhood in the Old City of Jerusalem.
"Israeli police stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard and attacked worshipers performing the fajr (dawn) prayers," one eyewitness told Anadolu Agency.
"The Israeli police used batons against the worshipers before they were expelled them from Al-Aqsa Mosque," he added.
The witness said the Israelis had closed the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and banned worshipers under the age of 50 from entering.
The Israeli army had imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the compound ahead of the weekly Friday prayers.
Meanwhile, clashes broke out between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Bab al-Huta neighborhood in the old city of Jerusalem.
Israel has deployed thousands of forces and erected roadblocks at major junctions leading to the Old City.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980 – in a move never recognized by the international community – claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
Palestinian organizations had called for a day of rage and massive demonstrations in the West Bank after the Friday prayers to protest the ongoing Israeli onslaught against the blockaded Gaza Strip.
A total of 248 Palestinians have been killed and 1920 injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive against the coastal enclave.
On Thursday, the Israeli army launched a ground operation against the besieged Gaza Strip following eleven days of relentless airstrikes with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.
Israel's military operation, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the embattled Gaza Strip – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – in the last six years.
By Anees Barghouthy, Abdel-Raouf Arnaout
englishnews@aa.com.tr
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