Israel hits Hamas HQ after Jerusalem is targeted
Israeli missiles last night hit the Hamas headquarters in Gaza as a missile from the enclave landed, for the first time, close to Jerusalem and another was fired at Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, the Israeli authorities called up 75,000 reservists, heightening fears of a ground war.
The rocket attacks were a challenge to Israel's Gaza offensive and came just hours after Egypt's prime minister, denouncing what he described as Israeli aggression, visited the enclave and said Cairo was prepared to mediate.
Israel's armed forces announced that a highway leading to the Gaza Strip and two roads bordering the enclave would be off-limits to civilian traffic until further notice.
Tanks and self-propelled guns were seen near the border area and the military said it had already called 16,000 reservists to active duty.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened senior cabinet ministers in Tel Aviv after the rockets struck to decide on widening the Gaza campaign.
Political sources said ministers were asked to approve the mobilisation of up to 75,000 reservists, in what could be preparation for a possible ground operation.
No decision was immediately announced and some commentators speculated in the Israeli media the move could be psychological warfare against Gaza's Hamas rulers. A quota of 30,000 reservists had been set earlier.
Israel began bombing Gaza on Wednesday with an attack that killed the Hamas military chief. It says its campaign is in response to Hamas missiles fired on its territory. Hamas stepped up rocket attacks in response.
Israeli police said a rocket fired from Gaza landed in the Jerusalem area, outside the city.
It was the first Palestinian rocket since 1970 to reach the vicinity of the holy city, which Israel claims as its capital, and was likely to spur an escalation in its three-day old air war against militants in Gaza.
Rockets nearly hit Tel Aviv on Thursday for the first time since Saddam Hussein's Iraq fired them during the 1991 Gulf War. An air raid siren rang out on Friday when the commercial centre was targeted again. Motorists crouched next to cars, many with their hands protecting their heads, while pedestrians scurried for cover in building stairwells.
The Jerusalem and Tel Aviv strikes have so far caused no casualties or damage, but could be political poison for Netanyahu, a conservative favoured to win re-election in January on the strength of his ability to guarantee security.
"The Israel Defence Forces will continue to hit Hamas hard and are prepared to broaden the action inside Gaza," Netanyahu said before the rocket attacks on the two cities.
Asked about Israel massing forces for a possible Gaza invasion, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: "The Israelis should be aware of the grave results of such a raid and they should bring their body bags."
Officials in Gaza said 28 Palestinians had been killed in the enclave since Israel began the air offensive with the declared aim of stemming surges of rocket strikes that have disrupted life in southern Israeli towns.
The Palestinian dead include 12 militants and 16 civilians, among them eight children and a pregnant woman. Three Israelis were killed by a rocket on Thursday. A Hamas source said the Israeli air force launched an attack on the house of Hamas's commander for southern Gaza which resulted in the death of two civilians, one a child.
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Alex Ellul
Nov 17th 2012, 23:34
However, if the US puts it foot down on Iran, then all this could be avoided.
Hans Weber
Nov 18th 2012, 11:44
Yes thats true but we all know in europe that the Americans are just a big mouth piece that say alot but thats it, when push comes to shove they just back off and let us do all the dirty work. typical Americans two of everything bigger then anyone else... sorry i just cannot abid any yanks, but then thats me.
Alex Ellul
Nov 17th 2012, 23:31
10. Hamas' aim is to weary Israel's military in preparation for the upcoming Israel-Iran,
11. Following theeventual destruction of Hamas' military, Israel will have to deal with Hezbollah's,
12. Then Iran's, and it has to be done while Syria is still in civil war mode
So this Hamas-Israel war is nothing but the onset of the Iran-Israel war. It is frightening. It will be devastatingly long
Alex Ellul
Nov 17th 2012, 23:25
7. Obama has abondoned Israel. Netanyahu had warned about the consequences if Obama was re-elected
8. Now, with Obama re-elected, Israel is feeling dejected and unsupported by the US, while Iran is close to having its first nuclear warhead which can be easily deployed with one of its successful missiles
9. Now the next thing is war in the ME. Hamas is in fact carrying out a proxy war for Iran.
Raymond Sacco
Nov 17th 2012, 18:01
Aggression has only led to more aggression, created by either side. The only way to peace is for Israel to negotiate a decent pact for both sides with the Palestinian authorities. Once they achieve that, Hamas will lose popularity. Hamas became powerful only because the Palestinian president Abbas has failed time after time with his peace schemes and is seen by his people as weak.
Paul Zammit
Nov 17th 2012, 14:43
To all speaking about peace and dialogue:
How can that ever be possible when u have a nation (palestinians) stripped off their land and humiliated down to the bone? Do u folk remember what happened when the germans were humiliated by the treaty of Versailles post WW1? Surpriseee ... *a humiliated nation is a tickin bomb!* and if it ticks out ... it gonna be like NUCLEAR WARFAR ... god save us.
B. Cachia
Nov 17th 2012, 17:15
Paul, in the 1990s the Palestinians balked at an agreement that would have given them all of their territory, with slight adjustments concerning the Holy Places and with some territorial exchanges elsewhere. The sticking point was Palestinian refusal to give up claims to Israel proper. One sympathises with what both sides have been through and are going through but both sides have to want peace.
Luciano Chetcuti
Nov 17th 2012, 14:16
Jiena cert li QATT mhu ser ikun hemm paci bejn dawn iz-zewg popli. Forsi l-Lhud gibdu sahta fuqhom talli sallbu lil Kristu. Huma stess kienu qalu "Demmu fuqna u fuq uliedna!" u Kristu stess waqt li kien sejjer biex isallbuh, lin-nisa li kienu qed jibku qalilhom "Ibku lilkom infuskom u lil uliedkom". U naraw li sal-lum il-poplu Lhudi dejjem ghadda minn tribulazzjonijiet ... u jibqa',
Paul Zammit
Nov 17th 2012, 14:44
Please ... quit treating the bible as if it was some sort of history book ... IT AIN'T ... period.
stephen koludrovic
Nov 17th 2012, 14:52
Dear Luciano, it was not the Jews that crucified Jesus. It was the Romans.
Joseph Borg
Nov 17th 2012, 15:15
Tghidx cucati. Kristu kien jaf li gej fid dinja biex jissallab. Kieku ahna ghadna minghajr tama ta salvazzjoni. Kristu kien qal."Waslet is siegha li Bin il bniedem irrid imut". Fazzjoni mil Lhud kienu li qatt ma gharfu jew accetaw lill Kristu bhala il Messija fosthom il qassisin il kbar. Alla ma jishet lill hadd.
Paul Pulis
Nov 17th 2012, 15:15
The words you quoted about the Jews were inserted in the gospels to shift the blame for the death of Jesus, from the Romans to the Jews. Paul of Tarsus wanted to restart the new Christian movement in Rome and substitute the historical Christ with a theological one. Paul's writings and agenda set the style for future interprtations by the newly reconstructed christian church in Rome.
Mr mike Knight
Nov 17th 2012, 13:29
If according to the artickle Netanyahu employs ground troops the whole region will erup against Israel its is expected and i think peronally that the Yanks< sorry the American will do well by keep thier big noses out of it.and not drug us into their problems as is the usual norm with the Americans.
Roberta Debono
Nov 17th 2012, 19:10
Its quite difficult for the Americans to keep thier big noses out as you rightly say, one reason they think they are above everyone else in this world, and the sooner they americans learn to stay out the better it would be for the rest of us, this inlcludes the British, and if and when Israel get a good hiding the sooner they learn to know thier place and learn to live in harmony with the Arabs.
Anthony Paul Naudi
Nov 17th 2012, 12:01
Jahsra dawn possibbli mhux kapaci jiddjalogaw bejniethom ? Dawn ilhom minn zmien Mose' bil-gwerer u donnhom mhux ser jieqfu. Jekk icedu ftit kull wiehed forsi jirrenja il-paci f'dak ir-regjun. Kemm ghnadna nirringrazzjaw lil Alla li pajjizna tirrenja id-demokrazija shiha u paci.
A.P.NAUDI
Salvinu Buttigieg
Nov 17th 2012, 23:36
Well said@ Roberta Debono, i couldn't agree with you more, the sooner the God almighty Americans learn to bud out everyone elses business the better, they are half the problem, cause if the Americans didn't back up the israelis then the Israel will back down, and this is exactly what they should do, let the Palestinians to live in peace for Xmas.and there after.
charles flores
Nov 17th 2012, 11:28
Shame. Ironically, this is the 21st Century version of the David and Goliath story. The Palestinian people have suffered enough. They deserve a homeland, a vote at the UN, and good relations with neighbouring states, including of course Israel. Western hypocrisy needs to stop before the tragedy continues to unfold.
B. Cachia
Nov 17th 2012, 14:29
Charles, a two-state solution has been on the table for a long time, but it's difficult for the Palestinian Authority to accept it, as it involves a renunciation of the 'right of return' of Palestinians to Israel proper, thus ending Palestinian claims to the entirety of what was once the Mandate of Palestine. As for Hamas, their objective is clearly not a two-state solution either.
P Sciberras
Nov 17th 2012, 10:53
These Palestinians held in the Gaza Consentration Camp,have a right to fight the occupiers as the right the Syrians rebels have. The only difference for the West is, that the fighters in Syria are called rebels,while the freedom fighters in Palestine are called terrorrists.See no calls by France to arm these freedom fighters,But France to help Israel having over 200 nuclear warheads is acceptable
Alex Ellul
Nov 17th 2012, 10:37
Hamas fire modern Iranian manufactured, rocket-propelled missiles at Israeli civilians. These missiles are fired from Palestinian civilian areas so that when the Israel destroys these bases Palestinian civlians would also be killed and Hamas would be able to shed crocodile tears for the western media to video, publish, such as the BBC (riddled with the paedophile scandals) is doing.
Please choose the reason of your report below: