IAF hits 40 targets, including mosque used as arms cache; Palestinians: 23 bodies found in rubble.
By JPOST.COM STAFFsurvey_gaza_media_war(photo credit: )
Despite predictions of an impending Gaza ceasefire, fighting continued in the Strip on Friday, the 21st day of Operation Cast Lead.
The IDF reported killing at least 20 Hamas gunmen in battles throughout the day.
Palestinians reported finding 23 bodies in the rubble of buildings bombed by the IAF in Gaza City's Tel el-Hawa neighborhood. They also said that a boy was killed and 10 other people were wounded in IDF operations in Rafah's A-Sha'abura refugee camp.
The IAF had bombed some 40 targets overnight, including a Gaza City mosque in which weapons were stored and under which a tunnel had been dug.
In addition, the air force struck six terror cells - including one in the process of firing mortar shells at Israel - three arms storehouses, two Hamas posts, four tunnels, rocket launching pads and the home of a Hamas operative.
On Thursday, Hamas Interior Minister Said Siam was killed in an IAF strike in Jabalya. Siam is the most senior Hamas political leader to be killed since Operation Cast Lead began.
Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Friday, the army held its daily humanitarian truce. During the IDF cease-fire, 130 aid trucks were allowed into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom and Karni crossings.
Palestinians reported Friday morning that 1,133 people had been killed and over 5,000 had been wounded since the start of Operation Cast Lead.
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