Israel strikes Hamas HQ: death toll rises to 38

Palestinian child sustaining head injuries Israeli attacks on Gaza have claimed at least 38 lives and left 350 injured. Al-Qassam Brigade has announced that it targeted the city of Jerusalem with a rocket which hit the settlement of Nokdim, east of Bethlehem. They also targeted the home of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Eyewitnesses have also reported hearing warning sirens in Jerusalem, as an Israeli channel has confirmed that a Hamas rocket landed near Jerusalem causing no injuries or damages. Also, Hamas military wing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades have claimed to have taken down an Israeli aircraft that was flying over Gaza.
Israeli radio reported on Friday Minister of Transport Yesrael Katz as saying that the head of the dismissed government in Gaza, Ismail Haneya and Hamas senior member Dr Mahmoud al-Zahar are both “legitimate targets for assassination.”
Occupation aircraft have continued their raids on various parts of the Gaza Strip, killing 25 and injuring 260. Ambulance and Emergency spokesman Adham Abu Selmeya told Arabstoday in a telephone conversation that the casualties included 100 wounded women, children and elderly. He also described 30 cases as being intermediate-to-serious. Shrapnel wounds to the chest and head were especially common, one intensive-care doctor said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has been in intense talks with a number of his counterparts worldwide, discussing the possibility of ending the military campaign in return for guarantees of Hamas’ commitment to total calm.
For their part, al-Qassam mujahideen are searching for the wreckage of the downed aircraft as Israeli intensifies bombardment of the area where it is believed to be.
Katz has also announced that the Israeli army is preparing to call up 16,000 reserves, adding that the attacks will continue until they achieve the desired deterrent effect.
Commenting on the visit to the Gaza Strip by Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, Katz said it “provided an opportunity for Egypt to take on the responsibility.”
Israel is split between supporters of an expanded military campaign and those opposing the proposed deployment of land forces. A majority of Israeli leaders, however, are stressing the importance of silencing Gaza resistance groups, and especially Hamas, with intense bombardment. The need for the strikes to target Hamas leaders is also highlighted by many prominent Israelis, both political and military.
Aerial bombardment of al-Qassam Brigades leader Mohammed Abushmala’s location in Rafah was continued, wounding three citizens.
Four air raids have also targeted an al-Qassam site in Rafah province, eyewitnesses said, destroying the house completely and damaging nearby residences. A child was mildly injured in the attack.
One Gazan was killed and four were injured in a raid on al-Zeitoun district. Also, in the north of Gaza, an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft fired a missile near Khazendar Station, causing no injuries, whereas one person was mildly wounded when a motorbike was targeted near al-Quds Open University in western Gaza.
Six citizens were injured in an air strike of al-Sheikh Radwan district, with the Israeli air force also bombarding an open area in al-Sabra wal Zeitoun district, causing no injuries.
Palestinian sources have reported the death of al-Qassam Brigades member Ismail Kandil as another was also injured in an Israeli air strike of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Two other Gazans were killed, of whom one was identified as three-year-old Mohammed Iyad Saadallah. Seven others were wounded in various raids covering a large swathe of the Gaza Strip.
The Strategic Affairs Minister of Israel Moshe Ya'alon said early on Friday that the current military operation in Gaza is being “very well conducted,” describing its goals as “eliminating the most critical concentrations of arms” in the Gaza Strip, as well as “destroying the weapons stores infrastructure, especially those weapons used over the past few years.” Speaking on Israeli radio, Ya’alon specified the Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets, saying that “the movement only has a few of these rockets left, and the Israeli air force is working hard to exterminate Grad rockets, or what’s left of them.” Grad rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip soon after this statement.
Arguing against a possible land invasion, former air force chief Ran Pecker said: “Until now we haven't targeted or hit innocents. There is a great deal of precision and you can hit certain targets as well as preventing losses (to our forces)." Pecker added that the air force can best strike the large cache of available targets.
These remarks come after the Israeli army that they will be calling up 30,000 reserves, whereas some observers believe the announcement is only an attempt to bring Hamas to request a truce.
Israeli strikes also targeted the ministry of the interior headquarters in the south of Gaza City. Another raid in the Tell al-Hawa area injured a child, while a man was also injured by strikes targeting Haneya’s home in al-Shati camp. Four Gazans were injured as a result of eight air raids on various areas in the north of the Gaza Strip. Several homes were burnt down in town of Beit Hanoun.
Israeli bombardment struck the central part of the Gaza Strip in various places, with four being injured in a strike on the perimeters of the tunnels connecting the strip with Egypt.
Israeli radio has also reported that Lieberman has confirmed to his counterparts with whom he had telephone conversations, that the Israeli government is careful of striking unarmed civilians in Gaza. Lieberman was also reported to have rejected the possibility of a ceasefire unless Hamas commits to complete calm and ends rocket attacks.
Meanwhile, al-Qassam Brigades announced at noon on Friday that they have launched a long-range rocket in the direction of the Knesset building in occupied Jerusalem, 78 kilometres away from Gaza City.
The group also announced a rocket launch targeting the city of Tel Aviv (75 kilometres north of Tel Aviv). The missile used, according to the Brigades, was the home-made rocket Qassam-M75. Israeli media has reported two rockets hitting Tel Aviv, causing a panic among residents. Tel Aviv has long been believed to be safe from Gaza fire. Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades have launched 5 rockets directed at Tel Aviv over the past 3 days, with two rockets landing in the south of the city on Friday afternoon. Israeli media, however, is attempting to cover up the hit by reporting that the rockets landed “in an open area.” An Israeli website wondered “Since when have there been ‘open areas’ in Tel Aviv?” Israeli Army Radio has announced that Tel Aviv police will handle raid shelter arrangements for local residents.
Palestinian resistance continued to strike occupation targets Friday afternoon using Grad missiles and other types of rockets. Ezzedine al-Qassam, al-Quds and Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades have all been firing rockets at Israeli targets. Israeli newspaper Maariv has reported 3 injuries in Eshkul and a direct strike on a home in the Be’er Tuvia area
Al-Qassam Brigades have struck Kiryat Gat with 5 Grad missiles and directed 2 more at al-Majdal and 11 at Ashdod, while al-Quds Brigades also struck Be’er Sheva and Ofakim with Grad rockets.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 10 has said that Palestinian resistance has fired 13 long-range missiles in 3 days, saying that military leadership is anxious over the unpredictability of these rockets.
Eyewitnesses have confirmed that Palestinian rockets have targeted an Israeli military pocket inside the separation barrier to the east of al-Berij refugee camp. The eyewitnesses report that the bodies of dead soldiers were scattered around the Jeep as the place was bombarded with dozens of mortar bombs. Israeli reinforcements later arrived at the scene and fired at random. Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades have claimed the operation, saying the Jeep was struck using a targeted missile.
Resistance groups fired hundreds of rockets into occupied lands over the past two days, killing four Israeli and injuring 60 as hundreds were also treated for shock.
Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement and Hamas’ Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades have claimed responsibility for the rocket strikes targeting the Tel Aviv town of Tel al-Rabi, causing damage to buildings and property. The al-Quds Brigades said in a statement that they were able to strike the city of Tel Aviv with a Fajr-5 missile, adding that “what is to come is greater, in response to the crimes committed by the Zionist enemy against our people.” Al-Qassam Brigades have declared responsibility for the rocket strike on Tel al-Rabi with home-made missiles.
The Channel 10 website confirmed that a Palestinian rocket landed in the town of Rishon Lezion to the south of Tel Aviv. An Israeli woman living in the town said “We were terrified. We live in shelters now.”
Photographs have been published showing dozens of Israeli tanks headed for the Gaza Strip, which has been Israeli attack for 2 days. The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson Maj. Avichay Adraee has confirmed the deployment in large numbers of armoured forces and land forces in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, adding that the military operation “could develop to much more difficult stages that include a possible land operation on various levels in Gaza.”
An army training was cancelled and troops mobilized towards the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, the spokesperson said, refusing to mark a distinction between “military and political targets in Gaza.”
“Nobody has immunity,” he said, preferring not to name figures that may be targeted by Israel in the next few days.
Israel intensified its aerial raids on the Gaza Strip, launching more than 70 strikes on different targets after resistance groups struck Tel Aviv and Rishon Lezion.
One of the targets struck in the Israeli bombardment is a power generator located near the home of Gaza’s head of government Ismail Haneya.
Palestinian analysts, however, have played down the mobilization of land forces, considering it only part of “a psychological war on the Gaza Strip,” and stressing that it was “no use affecting a land invasion of Gaza and entering into street warfare with Gazan resistance.”
The occupation forces have named the military action “Operation Pillar of Cloud” or “Amúd Anán” in Hebrew. The phrase is derived from the Torah and refers to the story of the Jews’ wandering in the desert for 40 years after their exodus from Egypt.
Palestinian resistance groups have also chosen names for their rocket operations against Israel, with al-Quds brigades referring to its campaign as “Operation Blue Sky,” in reference to a dissipated cloud column.
Al-Quds Brigades showered Israeli towns with dozens of rockets, ranging from 107s to Fajr-5s and KS-8s, with missiles reaching Tel Aviv.
Hamas military wing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which launched over 120 rockets at Israel, named their missile campaign “Hijara men Sijil” which is a reference to a Quranic verse that reads “Striking them with stones of baked clay.” Al-Qassam missiles also targeted aircraft as well as a barge.
Former member of the Knesset and leftist intellectual Uri Avnery wrote in an article that Operation Column of Cloud is a failure, before moving on to criticise the assault on Gaza by Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak. “The most appropriate name for Operation Column of Cloud is in fact Operation Short Memory,” he wrote, explaining that Netanyahu “depends on the masses’ short memories, and that they forget that dozens, nay hundreds (of killings) took place and the problem was not solved - there have always been others who take the place of those killed, and more than once the replacements were more competent and more radical.”
The occupying entity had requested a period of calm with the Palestinian resistance through European mediators, and the idea was rejected by the resistance which struck back in full force.