GAZA: Multiple Israeli air strikes continue to pound Gaza as more causalities are reported

Record ID: 340975

  • Title: GAZA: Multiple Israeli air strikes continue to pound Gaza as more causalities are reported
  • Date: 14th November 2012
  • Summary: WOMAN AND CHILDREN WALKING AWAY FROM FIRE
  • Embargoed: 29th November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Gaza
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAF4CGOOEPIVYN9YP7ZCT22A0GF
  • Story Text: Israel launched a major offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza on Wednesday (November 14), killing the military commander of Hamas in an air strike and threatening an invasion of the enclave that the Islamist group vowed would "open the gates of hell".
    A Reuters camera captured one of the airstrikes as it caused a big flame followed by the sound of an explosion.
    Fire-fighters struggle to fight the rising flames as residents, women, children and elderly can be seen fleeing the area as more fire trucks arrve on site.
    The onslaught shattered hopes that a truce mediated on Tuesday by Egypt could pull the two sides back from the brink of war after five days of escalating Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli strikes at militant targets.
    Seven Palestinians including a child, three gunmen, were killed so far with the numbers of casualties expected to rise. Eight Israeli civilians were wounded by rocket fire and four soldiers wounded by an anti-tank missile.
    Operation "Pillar of Defence" began with a surgical strike on a car carrying the commander of the military wing of Hamas, the Islamist movement which controls Gaza and dominates a score of smaller armed groups.
    Within minutes of the death of Ahmed Al-Jaabari, big explosions were rocking Gaza, as the Israeli air force struck at selected targets just before sundown, blasting plumes of smoke and debris high above the crowded city.
    Panicking civilians ran for cover and the death toll mounted quickly. Nine people including three children were killed, the health ministry said, and about 40 people were wounded.
    Hamas stuck back, firing at least four Grad rockets at the southern Israeli city of Beersheva in what it called its initial response. Israel reported damage but no casualties.
    A second Gaza war has loomed on the horizon for months as waves of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli strikes grew increasingly more intense and frequent.
    Israel confirmed it had carried out the attack and announced there was more to come. Reuters witnesses saw Hamas security compounds and police stations blasted apart.
    Southern Israeli communities within rocket range of Gaza were on full alert, and schools were ordered closed for Thursday.
    Israeli President Shimon Peres briefed U.S. President Barack Obama on the operation, Peres's office said in a statement. He told Obama that Jaabari was a "mass-murderer" and his killing was Israel's response to Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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