IDF forces continue to advance near Gaza City as the counter-terror operation moves ahead in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution calling on Israel to halt its military operation.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni announced on Monday that Israel will decide when the counter-terror offensive is halted based on its security considerations and will not be told to halt ahead of that time. Despite her stern comments in support of the operation, Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak in the latest round of high-level Security Cabinet consultations favor halting the IDF advance but were overruled by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who remains determined to bring Hamas to its knees, stating a ceasefire will only be accepted by the terrorist regime if and when it feels it has no other alternatives.

Al-Jazeera Arab news reports that IDF tanks are advancing along two major routes in the Gaza City corridor, cutting off the area in another visual confirmation of the IDF’s determination to eradicate Hamas’ rocket-firing capabilities. IDF reservists continue working with standing army forces to cleanse Gaza of the terrorist threat that has launched rockets into southern Israel for the past eight years.According to official sources, at least 40 terrorists were eliminated in Gaza fighting during the night.

During the night, four soldiers were injured in a booby-trapped building in Gaza, with one listed in moderate condition on Wednesday morning. The others sustained less serious injuries.

Israel on Wednesday will once again observe a humanitarian pause, from 9:00am-12:00pm.

In other news, sirens sounded in a false alarm in Haifa on Tuesday morning, alarming residents who feared an attack of some sort.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)