Operation
According to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), the operation was aimed at disrupting terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. One of the targets was Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh's office.
Troops from the Givati Brigade, Combat Engineering forces and the Armor Corps are also known to have been involved in the ground operation. The Israeli Air Force was also involved, carrying out airstrikes and providing tactical support for the ground troops. A source in the IDF said that the cooperation between ground and air forces was satisfactory.
From February 29 to March 1, Israel mostly carried out airstrikes at ammo warehouses, rocket factories, rocket warehouses and launching cells, combined with small incursions close to the border. Despite the IAF presence in the whole Gaza Strip and the IDF presence in the border areas, the Palestinian militants managed to fire more than 200 rockets during the operation, most of them at Sderot, but at least 20 at Ashkelon and 1 at Netivot. After a day in which 50 rockets were fired, IDF decided to change its strategy on March 2 and sent a whole regiment (about 2000 men) into the Northern Strip to occupy Jabalya and Sajiyah but met stiff resistance from the Palestinians. Military deaths totalled 4 Palestinian fighters and 2 Israeli soldiers.
On March 3, 2008 Israel, according to the IDF, was free to search for factories, terrorist infrastructure, Qassam warehouses and rocket launchers in the 2 towns. In the evening, Israel pulled out its troops from the Gaza Strip, but Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the operation ended but Israel would soon return to counter the rocket firing and said the airstrikes "would continue".
Read more about this topic: Operation Hot Winter
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