Israel Extends Air Strikes on Gaza, Hamas Retaliates
Israel Extends Air Strikes on Gaza, Hamas Retaliates
November 15, 2012ABC News - Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip stretched into another day as Hamas and other militant groups retaliated, the latest escalation of violence between the two sides that followed Israel's assassination Wednesday of Hamas' top military commander.
Israel has warned that it is ready to enlarge the operation with a ground operation and reservists have been called up."We are still at the beginning of the event, not at the end, and we expect some complicated tests ahead," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a nationally televised address Monday night, standing next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hamas warned that Israel will pay a heavy price for Jabari's assassination, its armed wing saying Israel had "opened the gates of hell.""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 tweeted Monday night.
Thousands gathered for Jabari's funeral Tuesday morning as rockets continued to be fired into Israel. Some were intercepted by Israel's oft-touted Iron Dome anti-missile shield.
"Once again the international community is witness to Israel's malicious onslaught, using the most lethal military means and illegal measures against the defenseless Palestinian civilian population," the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said.
U.N. chief urges Israel, Hamas to avoid escalating Gaza violence
Qatar wants Israel punished for Gaza attacks
November 15, 2012Reuters - Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani on Wednesday condemned the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip that killed Hamas's top military commander and at least six other Palestinians and said they should not go unpunished.
"I condemn in the name of Qatar... This filthy crime must not pass without a punishment," Sheikh Hamad told journalists after a meeting in the Saudi capital between Gulf Cooperation Council Foreign Ministers and their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss Syria.
"The U.N. Security Council must shoulder its responsibilities in preserving peace and security in the world."
Amr "requested that the United States immediately intervene to stop Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people in Gaza", MENA news agency reported, adding that Amr spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by telephone.
Iran condemns Israel's Gaza strikes as "terrorism"
November 15, 2012Reuters - Iran condemned on Thursday as "organized terrorism" an offensive by Israel against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
"Iran considers the criminal act of Israeli military forces in killing civilians as organized terrorism and strongly condemns it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.The spokesman also criticized what he called "the silence of international organizations claiming to defend human rights," following the strikes.
Israel killed the military commander of Hamas on Wednesday in an air strike on Gaza and threatened an invasion of the enclave.
The Islamist group retaliated on Thursday by firing dozens of rockets into southern Israel, killing three people.
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