The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have reacted with force to a barrage of rocket attacks fired from the Gaza Strip onto Israel territory. On Wednesday afternoon, an Israeli airstrike killed Ahmed al-Jabari, the chief of Hamas's military wing, while he was traveling in his car in Gaza City. Israeli planes also struck what military sources said were 25 separate targets, including Hamas weapon storage sites holding stockpiles of long-range rockets.
On Thursday morning, three Israeli citizens were killed when a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a building in the town of Kiryat Malachi, near Ashdod. Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said two men and a woman died after a rocket had struck their four-story apartment building. A 4-year-old boy was seriously wounded and two babies lightly hurt in the strike.
In total, more than 250 missiles were fired from Gaza into Israel in the 24 hours following the start of the IDF campaign in Gaza.
Al-Jabari, 52, was the head of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing. He made a rare public appearance just over a year ago escorting the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit – whose abduction in 2006 he had supervised - to freedom.
Possible ground operation
On Wednesday night, IDF troops massed on the Gaza border, poised for a possible ground invasion. Israel said the aim of ‘Operation Pillar of Defense’, as it has been dubbed, was “to severely impair the command and control chain of the Hamas leadership as well as its terrorist infrastructure.”
Military sources told the British newspaper ‘The Independent’ that a ground invasion was “a distinct possibility.” The IDF deployed extra infantry units near the Gaza border, halted major exercises, canceled soldiers’ leave and mobilized some reserve forces.
The Israeli army said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz had “approved an extensive program of direct offensive strikes against Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorists” and confirmed that a broad operation was underway.
Hamas warned that Israel “had opened the gates of hell upon themselves.” Leaders from the rival Fatah party, which controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, also denounced the killing. “We condemn in the strongest terms this new Israeli assassination which aims to initiate a bloody escalation,” said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat. “We hold the Israeli government fully responsible for the consequences that this new act of aggression would bring to the region. This exposes that Israel has an agenda for war but not for peace.”
Egypt recalls its ambassador in Tel Aviv
Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi decided on Wednesday evening to recall the Egyptian ambassador to Israel. Morsi "offered his sincerest condolences, in the name of the Egyptian people, to the Palestinians for their martyrs," his spokesman said in statement on state television.
Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement, which is closely aligned with the Hamas rulers in Gaza, had earlier called for a boycott of Israel. Its political arm, the Freedom of Justice Party, had warned that Israel "must take into account the changes in the Arab region and especially Egypt."
In New York, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the latest developments. Indian Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, the current president of the 15-nation body, told reporters after the 90-minute closed-door meeting that council members had only agreed to issue a communiqué stating that an emergency meeting had taken place, and other procedural details.
On Thursday morning, Egypt formally requested another of the Security Council. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Egyptian UN ambassador had expressed the government’s "serious alarm at the Israeli aggression on Gaza" and described the attack as a violation of international law.
Washington backs Israeli action
The Obama administration in Washington defended Israel’s actions against terrorists in the Gaza Strip. After President Barack Obama had spoken with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House issued the following statement: "The president reiterated to Prime Minister Netanyahu the United States’ support for Israel’s right to self-defense in light of the barrage of rocket attacks being launched from Gaza against Israeli civilians. The president urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to make every effort to avoid civilian casualties. The two agreed that Hamas needs to stop its attacks on Israel to allow the situation to de-escalate. The two leaders agreed to stay in close touch in the coming days."
The State Department also issued a statement: “We strongly condemn the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel, and we regret the death and injury of innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians caused by the ensuing violence. There is no justification for the violence that Hamas and other terrorist organizations are employing against the people of Israel. We call on those responsible to stop these cowardly acts immediately. We support Israel’s right to defend itself, and we encourage Israel to continue to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties.
“Hamas claims to have the best interests of the Palestinian people at heart, yet it continues to engage in violence that is counterproductive to the Palestinian cause. Attacking Israel on a near daily basis does nothing to help Palestinians in Gaza or to move the Palestinian people any closer to achieving self-determination,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Israel has launched a diplomatic offensive to explain to the world that the one million people who live down south cannot tolerate continued rocket attacks from Gaza. PM Netanyahu said: “We avoid harming civilians as much as possible and that is one fundamental difference between us. They want to obliterate us from the face of the earth and they have no qualms about hurting civilians and innocents,” he said. Apart from Obama, Netanyahu also spoke over the phone with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Israeli reservists placed on full alert
Inside Israel, police and home front command officers were placed on full alert. A house in Ashdod and a school in Ofakim near Beersheba also sustained damage from rockets on Thursday morning. Missiles also landed in the Eshkol Regional Council area, Gan Yavne and Ashkelon.
The IDF Spokesman's Office said on Thursday morning that the Iron Dome rocket defense system successfully intercepted 13 rockets since midnight. The system had intercepted a further 30 rockets on Wednesday night.
