Gaza City braces for Israeli assault

GAZA CITY — Residents of this Palestinian territory awoke Friday to find key east-west streets blocked with towering berms of sand.

The sand piles, a low-tech but surprisingly effective anti-tank measure, are one indication of how seriously the Palestinian leadership here is anticipating an Israeli incursion like those in the West Bank.
"We just woke up, and the sand was here," taxi driver Mohammed Dawwas said as he wove expertly between the piles. "They will slow a tank down while you shoot at it from behind, or you can hide I don't know what inside them."
Explosive-spiked berms have destroyed two supposedly impervious Israeli Merkava tanks in separate incidents, incinerating the soldiers inside. The feats stunned Israeli military planners and energized the resistance.
"When the Israelis come here it will be like Jenin, only much, much worse," said one man who asked not to be named. Palestinians in that West Bank city have mounted a particularly bloody resistance to Israeli troops.