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| Israeli soldiers with armored vehicles gather in a staging ground near the border with Gaza Strip, southern Israel, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. Fierce clashes between Israeli forces and Gaza militants are continuing for the third day. |
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Palestinian militants took aim at Jerusalem for the first time Friday, launching a rocket attack on the holy city in a major escalation of hostilities as Israel pressed forward with a relentless campaign of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Israel
called up thousands of reservists and massed troops along the border
with Gaza, signaling a ground invasion of the densely populated seaside
strip could be imminent. The attack on Jerusalem, along with an earlier
strike on the metropolis of Tel Aviv, raised the likelihood that Israel
would soon move in.
Israel triggered the
current fighting by assassinating the military chief of the ruling Hamas
militant group on Wednesday, then conducting dozens of airstrikes on
weapons-storage sites used by rocket squads. The sudden attack came in
response to days of heavy rocket fire from Gaza.
Israeli
leaders have threatened to widen the operation if the rocket fire
doesn't halt. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said options included
the possible assassination of Hamas' prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, and
other top leaders.
"Every time that Hamas
fires there will be a more and more severe response," he told Channel 2
TV. "I really recommend all the Hamas leadership in Gaza not to try us
again. ... Nobody is immune there, not Haniyeh and not anybody else."
While
Israeli military officials insist they have inflicted heavy damage on
Hamas, there has been no halt to the militants' rocket fire. Hundreds of
rockets have been fired, including a number of sophisticated weapons
never before used.
The rocket attack on
Jerusalem was unprecedented, setting off the eerie wail of air raid
sirens across the city shortly after the beginning of the Jewish
sabbath, a time when roads are empty. Police said the rocket landed in
an open area southeast of the city. Earlier Friday, Hamas fired a rocket
at Tel Aviv that also landed in an open area.
Israel's two largest cities have never before been exposed to rocket fire from Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Over
the past three days, Israel has struck suspected rocket-launching sites
and other Hamas targets in Gaza with scores of airstrikes, while Hamas
has fired more than 450 rockets toward Israel. In all, 27 Palestinians
and three Israelis have been killed.
On Friday, the Israeli army sent text messages to some 12,000 Gaza residents warning them to steer clear of Hamas operatives.
An
attack on Jerusalem, claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians as
their capital, was especially bold, both for its symbolism and its
distance from the Palestinian territory. Located roughly 50 miles (80
kilometers) from the Gaza border, Jerusalem had been thought to be
beyond the range of Gaza rockets.
"We are
sending a short and simple message: There is no security for any Zionist
on any single inch of Palestine and we plan more surprises," said Abu
Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' armed wing.
It
marked a bit of a gamble for the militants. The rocket landed near the
Palestinian city of Bethlehem and just a few miles from the revered
Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, one of Islam's holiest sites.
Hamas,
an Iranian-backed group committed to Israel's destruction, was badly
bruised during its last full-fledged confrontation with Israel four
years ago that ended with an informal truce, although rocket fire and
Israeli airstrikes on militant operations continued sporadically.
Just
a few years ago, Palestinian rockets were limited to crude, homemade
devices manufactured in Gaza. But in recent years, Hamas and other armed
groups have smuggled in sophisticated, longer-range rockets from Iran
and Libya, which has been flush with weapons since Moammar Gadhafi was
ousted last year.
Hamas said the rockets aimed
at the two Israeli cities Friday were made in Gaza, a prototype the
militants call M-75, and have a range of about 50 miles. The Israeli
military also released a video of what it said was an attempt by Hamas
to launch an unmanned drone aircraft. Neither weapon was previously
known to be used by Hamas.
Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with his emergency Cabinet Friday
night. Israeli media reported the meeting approved a request from
Defense Minister Ehud Barak to draft 75,000 reservists.
Earlier this
week, the government approved a separate call-up of as many as 30,000
soldiers. Combined, it would be the biggest call-up of reserves in a
decade.
Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, a military
spokeswoman, said 16,000 reservists were called to duty on Friday and
others could soon follow.
She said no decision
had been made on a ground offensive but all options are on the table.
Dozens of armored vehicles have been moved to Israel's border with Gaza
since fighting intensified Wednesday.
The
violence has widened the instability gripping the region, straining
already frayed Israel-Egypt relations. The Islamist government in Cairo,
linked like Hamas to the region-wide Muslim Brotherhood, recalled its
ambassador in protest and dispatched Prime Minister Hesham Kandil to
show solidarity with Gaza.
Kandil called for
an end to the offensive while touring Gaza City's Shifa Hospital with
Haniyeh, the Gaza prime minister who was making his first public
appearance since the fighting began.
In one
chaotic moment, a man rushed toward the two leaders, shouting as he held
up the body of a 4-year-old boy. The two prime ministers cradled the
lifeless boy who Hamas said was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Israel
vociferously denied the claim, saying it had not operated in the area.
Fighting to hold back tears, Kandil told reporters the Israeli operation must end.
"What
I saw today in the hospital, the wounded and the martyrs, the boy ...
whose blood is still on my hands and clothes, is something that we
cannot keep silent about," he said.
An
Egyptian intelligence official, meanwhile, said an Egyptian proposal for
a cease-fire in Gaza was presented Friday to Haniyeh and other Hamas
leaders. The details were not made public.
However, Hamas replied that a cease-fire was premature because Jaabari's "blood has not dried yet."
The
Egyptian official said Hamas officials promised to study the cease-fire
proposal again in the coming days.
senior Hamas official confirmed that Egypt, which often mediates
between Hamas and Israel, was working behind the scenes to arrange a
truce.
The official, speaking on condition of
anonymity because he was discussing a sensitive diplomatic matter, said
Hamas was demanding an end to the offensive, limits on Israeli ground
activities along the border, a permanent halt in assassinations of Hamas
leaders and an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza.
"These
conditions must be honored and sponsored by a third party," he said.
"We will stop all armed activities out of Gaza in return."
An
Israeli official refused to say whether Egypt or any other country was
involved in cease-fire efforts but said Israel would not settle for
anything less than a complete and long-standing halt to the rocket fire.
"We're not interested in a timeout that returns us to square one," he
said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to
discuss the matter with the media.
