: 10.0pt"> For the first time, Israeli troops fought their way deep into Gaza City. The operation sought to arrest several terrorist suspects. Beginning at 2 AM, the Israeli troops withdrew four hours later. The Palestinians had vowed to offer strenuous resistance to any Israeli advance into Gaza, but this middle of the night attack caught the Palestinians off guard.

The Palestinian Authority is trying to get the main terrorist organizations to restrict their attacks to Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory and Israeli troops. Many terrorists refuse to do this, as these two target types are the most difficult to attack. The Israelis are becoming more proficient at thwarting terrorist attacks and the more targets the terrorists have, the more likely they are to succeed. But the killing of a mother and her two young children does the Palestinian cause great harm in the battle for worldwide public opinion. Winning that battle means getting more money and an easier time operating overseas. Right now, as more and more Israeli women and children are killed by Palestinians, cash contributions to the Palestinians and  overseas hospitality for Palestinian agents has been drying up.