Three die after Palestinian rocket attack
Palestinian militants fired nearly 150 rockets into Israel today, killing three people and striking the southern outskirts of Tel Aviv.
Israel pressed on with a punishing campaign of airstrikes on militant targets across the Gaza Strip. Fifteen Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 wounded in fighting yesterday and today.
As nightfall approached, the fighting showed no signs of slowing, and the rocket attack on the city of Rishon Lezion, by far the deepest target reached by Gaza militants so far, raised the likelihood of an even tougher Israeli response.
Defence officials say Israel is prepared to launch a ground invasion into Gaza if necessary. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the army was prepared for a “significant widening” of its Gaza offensive.
“No government would tolerate a situation where nearly a fifth of its people live under a constant barrage of rockets and missile fire, and Israel will not tolerate this situation,” he said.
“This is why my government has instructed the Israeli Defence Forces to conduct surgical strikes against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. And this is why Israel will continue to take whatever action is necessary to defend our people.”
The fighting, the heaviest in four years, has brought life to a standstill on both sides of the border, with schools cancelled and people huddled indoors.
Israel and Hamas have largely observed an informal truce for the past four years. But in recent weeks, the calm unravelled in a bout of rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.
From Israel’s perspective, Hamas escalated tit-for-tat fighting in recent days with a pair of attacks: an explosion in a tunnel along the Israeli border and a missile attack on an Israeli military jeep that seriously wounded four soldiers.
Israeli officials say they have not yet decided on whether to launch a ground invasion in Gaza, and it is not clear what would trigger it. But a successful strike on Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial and cultural capital, would mark a significant escalation.
Although the rocket in Rishon Lezion, some 60 kilometres, or 40 miles north of Gaza, landed harmlessly in an open area, it illustrated the significant capabilities that Hamas militants have developed in recent years. Gaza militants had previously hit the city in 2009 fighting as well.
Israel launched the offensive yesterday, killing the head of Hamas’ militant wing and destroying dozens of rocket launchers.
Israel has made special efforts to destroy launchers for Hamas’ Iranian-made Fajr rockets, which are believed capable of flying even deeper into Israel.
Israel’s military spokesman, Brig Gen Yoav Mordechai, says the air operation has delivered a “strong blow” to militants’ launching sites.
Three Israelis were killed earlier today when a rocket struck an apartment building in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi. The Israeli military says three soldiers were wounded in a separate rocket attack.
The military said its air campaign has hit 230 targets across Gaza, and its “Iron Dome” rocket defence system has intercepted some 90 incoming rockets.
Still, Palestinian militants continued to launch rockets into Israel throughout the day.
Egypt’s Islamist president has ordered his prime minister to lead a senior delegation to Gaza in a show of support for the coastal strip’s Hamas rulers in the face of Israel’s offensive.
State television said that, on orders from President Mohammed Morsi, Hesham Kandil will go to Gaza tomorrow. It said the delegation will also try to meet the “urgent needs” of Gaza residents.
Earlier, Mr Morsi vowed to work to stop Israel’s campaign against Hamas, calling the Jewish state’s actions there “unacceptable” in his first public comments on the crisis on his country’s doorstep.
Tel Aviv residents say they heard an explosion following an air-raid alert across the city, raising fears of a Gaza rocket strike on Israel’s commercial capital.
Israeli authorities were trying to determine where the rocket may have landed.
Eli Bean, the head of Israel’s rescue service, says no injuries have been reported.
Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai says nothing landed on the ground, raising the possibility it fell in the sea.
A strike on Tel Aviv would be the first time Gaza rocket squads have reached the city and that would mark a significant escalation.
