Hamas and Israel continue to trade blows
Palestinian militants sent a deadly barrage of missiles flying deep into Israel, demonstrating Hamas still had firepower three days into Israel’s punishing air offensive in Gaza.
Four Israelis, including a soldier, were killed and eight wounded. Palestinian health officials put the three-day death toll in Gaza at 364; the UN said the total included at least 62 civilians.
In yesterday’s attacks, Israel focused its bombing on the houses of Hamas field operatives in a campaign meant to tear at the roots of the extremist group ruling Gaza. Israel’s defence minister promised a “war to the bitter end against Hamas” and allied militants.
Early today, Israeli aircraft dropped at least 16 bombs on five Hamas government buildings in a Gaza City complex, destroying them, setting fires and sending rubble flying for hundreds of yards, witnesses said. Rescue workers said 40 people were injured.
Intensified rocket strikes by Gaza militants, which triggered the Israeli offensive, have revealed the expanding range of missiles that are making larger cities farther inside Israel vulnerable.
In a barrage yesterday night, a missile crashed into a bus stop in Ashdod, 23 miles from the Gaza Strip. A woman died and two others were wounded, one seriously – the first casualties in the city of 190,000 residents.
The military said an Israeli soldier was killed later in a mortar strike, the first soldier to be killed in the conflict. Five others were wounded, one seriously, according to a military statement.
Earlier yesterday, an Israeli was killed and one seriously wounded by a rocket strike in the Negev desert community of Nahal Oz, closer to the Gaza border.
A rocket also killed an Israeli construction worker in the city of Ashkelon. In all, five Israelis have been killed since the Gaza offensive began Saturday, bringing to 19 the number killed in rocket attacks from Gaza this year.
Early today, Hamas released a statement saying its squads had fired 43 homemade rockets, 17 longer-range Grads and six mortar shells at Israel. Other militant groups also fired rockets at Israel.
The targets chosen by Israel yesterday pointed to an intention to chip away at Hamas’ foundation. Israeli aircraft staged five separate strikes on the houses of field operatives, though there was no confirmation that any of them were killed.
A grainy video taken by an Israeli drone airplane showed several men loading a pickup truck with what the Israeli military said were medium-range Grad rockets. Moments later, a big explosion from an Israeli missile strike envelops the image.
One Israeli attack targeted a house in the Jebaliya refugee camp, killing seven people, but the Hamas activist was not there, Hamas security and relatives said. Another hit the Jebaliya home of Abdel-Karim Jaber, a Hamas political figure who is a senior administrator at Gaza’s Islamic University. He was not at home and it wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was hurt in the strike.
In another air assault, an Islamic Jihad commander was killed as he was walking near his house, said Abu Hamza, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad’s military wing.
Israel’s airstrikes on more than 325 sites since midday on Saturday reduced dozens of buildings to rubble, overwhelmed hospitals with wounded and filled Gaza’s deserted streets with smoke and fire. The military said Israeli naval vessels had also bombarded targets from the sea.
