Israel launches deadly airstrikes in Gaza

Israel yesterday Wednesday launched the most ferocious assault on Gaza in four years after persistent Palestinian rocket fire, hitting some 20 targets in airstrikes that killed the top military commander of Hamas.

Threatening a ground invasion of Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces warned all Hamas leaders in Gaza to stay out of sight or risk the same fate as the Hamas military commander, Ahmed al-Jabari, who was killed in a pinpoint airstrike as he was riding in a car down a Gaza street.

"We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead," the Israel Defense Forces said in a Twitter message. Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the military spokesman, said, "If I were a senior Hamas activist, I would look for a place to hide."

We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead. — IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 14, 2012

The escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hamas, prompted Egypt to recall its ambassador and demand meetings of the United Nations Security Council and the Arab League.

The escalation to 'Operation Cloud Pillar' comes after growing tensions from rocket fire from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights where it replied with fire into Syria; and more than 750 rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel this year. The rockets have hit homes, caused injuries and frightened the population. On Saturday, Gaza militants fired an antitank missile at an Israeli Army Jeep patrolling the Israel-Gaza border, injuring four soldiers.

"Deterrence has to be maintained," said Gabi Siboni, a colonel in the reserves who leads the military and strategic affairs program at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. "It was only a question of time until this moment arrived."

The Israeli attacks killed at least five others besides Jabari, including a baby and a 7-year-old girl, and had wounded at least 40.

The airstrikes were followed by dozens of Hamas-fired rockets into southern Israel.

By targeting Jabari, 52, the Israelis said they had killed the mastermind of virtually every attack to come from Gaza in recent years, including the kidnapping in 2006 of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Jabari was involved in the negotiations to release Shalit, whose five years as a prisoner was a source of national anguish. When he was finally released through Egypt, Jabari made a rare public appearance alongside him.

The attacks on Gaza also come at a delicate time for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, nine weeks before elections. Netanyahu praised the military for the operation and said: "We will not accept a situation in which Israeli citizens are threatened by the terror of rockets. No country would accept this."

In Washington, the White House said the United States supports Israel's right to self-defense from the rocket attacks and Barack Obama had urged Netanyahu to "make every effort to avoid civilian casualties."

Nonetheless, the Israeli attacks further complicated Israel's fragile relations with Egypt, where the Islamist-led government of Morsi, reversing a policy of his ousted predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, had established closer ties with Hamas and had been acting as a mediator to restore calm between Israel and Gaza-based militant groups.

In the first crisis in Israeli-Egyptian relations since Morsi came to power, he called the Israeli actions "wanton aggression on the Gaza Strip" in justifying his decision to summon home the ambassador.