Israel launched an intense airstrike throughout the Gaza Strip killing at least 11 people including Hamas military commander, Ahmed Jabari, and targeting the armed group's training facilities in the region. Hundreds of Palestinian targets were struck down by Israeli rockets including the target killing of the most senior commander of Hamas' military wing, the Ezzidine Al-Qassam Brigades.
Carrying out the most intense assault on the territory in nearly four years, Israel said the airstrike is its response to the days of rocket fire out of Hamas-ruled Gaza. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that it has struck "dozens" of Hamas' medium-range underground rocket launch sites and other weapons storage facilities.
As the Israeli forces carried out a blistering offensive in an operation codenamed "Pillar of Defense," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will no longer stand the repeated rocket attacks from the Gaza militants.
"If there is a need, the military is prepared to expand the operation. We will continue to do everything to protect our citizens," Netanyahu declared. Meanwhile, the defense officials indicated a strong possibility of ground operation in the coming days, although stressed that no clear decision has been taken.
The Israeli attack has killed at least 11 Palestinians including two small children and injured more than 100 people. "Overnight, approximately 100 medium and long range rocket launch and infrastructure sites across the Gaza Strip were targeted. The aim of this targeting is to impair the rocket launching capability of terror organizations in the Gaza Strip such as Hamas, and damage their future build up. Furthermore, IAF aircraft targeted several rocket launching squads while these were preparing to fire rockets into Israel, and tank shells were used to target several terror activity sites," an official blog post of IDF said. "Since the beginning of the operation, 54 rockets struck southern Israel - overall, 822 rockets in 2012," IDF said claiming that the military has successfully intercepted 28 rockets and struck 105 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip.
Israel's diplomatic ties with its neighbours have hit a new low of late. Egypt recalled its ambassador to Israel to protest its Gaza Strip assault. Egypt's loosely controlled Sinai desert has become a staging ground for militant attacks on Israel. While on the other hand, the Syrian revolution has begun spilling over to Israel as it had to fire back at Syria after a long gap of nearly 40 years in response to the stray mortar fires from the troubled country.
