Air-raid sirens sounded for a second day in Tel Aviv and an explosion was heard in the city asIsrael extended its bombing of Gaza and militant groups fired rockets at the Jewish state.
Egypt’s prime minister, Hisham Qandil, visited Gaza today and called for an international effort to end the violence there, saying that “the world should take responsibility in stopping this aggression.” Israel’s army said it has deployed tanks near the Gaza border and called up reservists.
A blast was heard in Tel Aviv at about 1:30 p.m. and air- raid warnings sounded around the same time. The municipality has opened bomb shelters, Channel 2 TV said. Israeli police said on Twitter that a missile may have landed in an “unpopulated area.” There was no further confirmation immediately. Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in an e-mail from Gaza that it fired a rocket at Tel Aviv.
The escalating conflict threatens a region still unbalanced after a wave of popular uprisings last year, including one in Israel’s neighbor Syria that has turned into a civil war.
Israel said it stopped air strikes while Qandil was in Gaza, after making an earlier pledge to cease fire if there was a corresponding halt in rocket attacks from the territory. Hamas, which governs Gaza, said the Israeli attacks continued. Militants from the strip fired 67 rockets at Israel in the past three hours, an Israeli army spokesperson said, speaking anonymously in accordance with military rules.
At least one long-range missile from Gaza was fired yesterday at Tel Aviv, and it probably fell in the sea with no damage or injuries reported, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Ground Attack
Israel said yesterday that it’s ready to step up its operation if rocket fire continues, signaling the possibility of the first ground assault on Gaza since the one launched in December 2008, which left more than 1,100 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead. The army posted a picture of tanks and said they were gathered at an assembly point near Gaza.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood administration, which helped overthrow Israeli ally Hosni Mubarak last year, has vowed to take a stronger stand in defense of Palestinian rights.
Twenty-two Palestinians have been killed since the air strikes began, including one man who died this morning while Qandil and Hamas’s Gaza premier Ismail Haniyeh were visiting a hospital, said Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman for the Hamas-run ministry of health. Israeli says its air strikes have targeted launch-sites for medium-range rockets, as well as ammunition storage facilities. Three Israelis died in more than 330 rocket attacks launched from Gaza, the Israeli army says.
‘Onus on Hamas’
President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser,Ben Rhodes, said that “the onus is on Hamas to de-escalate.” The U.S. is in close contact with Israeli officials and is working with Turkey, Egypt and European nations to pressure Hamas to end the “unacceptable” rocket attacks, Rhodes said during a conference call.
The U.S., European Union and Israel classify Hamas as a terrorist group. The Israeli army advised in a post on Twitter that “no Hamas operatives, whether low-level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead.”
Iran, accused by Israel of being Hamas’s chief backer, said the group is entitled to defend itself against Israeli aggression. Hamas is fighting for a “just cause,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Russia’s state broadcaster RT today.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul said international efforts are needed to stop Israel’s offensive. French President Francois Hollande said he has urged Netanyahu not to “fall into provocations,” and asked Egyptian leader Mohamed Mursi to use his influence to calm the situation.
Bloomberg has the full article
