Civilian toll mounts in Gaza, reports REKA Israel. Gilad Shalit reported wounded. Israeli air strikes destroy 40 tunnels and reservists are called up.
Yediot Ahronot newspaper quotes Israeli sources Monday morning as saying an Egyptian television report that captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was wounded in an IAF strike in Gaza is probably part of the psychological war being waged by Hamas.
At least seven Palestinians were killed in some 40 air strikes over Sunday night and early Monday morning, including a toddler and his two teenage brothers in Rafah. Palestinian sources said an unidentified Hamas leader who had apparently gone into hiding had been the target of the attack.
Earlier, a Gaza Health Ministry official reported that a 14-month-old baby, a man and two women, were killed in an air attack on the Jabalya refugee camp. The IAF also hit a building close to the home of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and two laboratories of the Islamic University where explosives and rockets were apparently being manufactured.
Military sources say the air force has carried out more than 300 strikes since the start of the operation on Saturday, and has reported accurate hits, reducing many strategic targets to rubble.
The highlight of Sunday's operation was the destruction of 40 smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egyptian border in an air strike that lasted just four minutes.
Hamas has confirmed that 180 of its members have been killed in the Israeli operation. There was no confirmation of a report that its chief of staff, Ahmed Jaabri, was killed in one of the air strikes.
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks have been deployed on the border with Gaza and the cabinet has approved an emergency call-up of 6,500 reservists. Military sources say the IDF is ready to launch a ground operation as soon as the cabinet gives the green light. IDF Spokesman Avi Benayahu said last night that this operation, aimed at stopping the rocket attacks on southern Israel, could take "many days," and perhaps even weeks. While the rocket fire was down significantly yesterday, the sources confirmed that one rocket struck close to Ashdod, some 30 kilometers away from Gaza, and the furthest reached so far. They said about 150.
By REKA Israel
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