way to go Obama. Is this what we get the next 4 years, since no one in the world respects you ?
Israeli airstrikes widen scope against Gaza
Ibrahim Barzak and Amy Teibel ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sunday, December 28, 2008
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Warplanes pressing one of Israel's deadliest assaults ever against Palestinian militants widened their sights on Sunday, dropping bombs on smuggling tunnels that are a major weapons pipeline for the Gaza Strip's Islamic Hamas rulers.
Israel's Cabinet authorized the military to call up 6,500 reserve soldiers for a possible ground invasion and moved tanks, infantry and armored units to the Gaza border. Since it began Saturday, Israel's offensive against Gaza rocket squads has been carried out exclusively from the air.
Crowds of Gazans, backed by a bulldozer, breached the border wall with Egypt to escape the chaos. Syria, reflecting the rage in the Arab world over Israel's aerial onslaught, broke off indirect peace talks with the Jewish state.
The airstrikes, which initially targeted Hamas security compounds, killed more than 280 Palestinians and wounded hundreds more in its first 24 hours, said Dr. Moaiya Hassanain, a Gaza health official. A Palestinian human rights group said among 251 dead it counted, 20 were children under 16 and nine were women.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said it was difficult to keep an exact count because of chaos at the hospitals and difficulty in identifying dismembered bodies.
The civilian casualties included a 15-year-old boy who died in southern Gaza on Sunday in an attack on a greenhouse near the border. At least 644 people were wounded, Dr. Hassanain said.
Battered militants managed to launch more than 20 rockets and mortars at Israeli border communities. The number of attacks was down sharply from a day earlier, indicating the Israeli airstrikes took a stiff toll. Israel's head of military intelligence told Israel's Cabinet on Sunday that Hamas' ability to fire rockets had been reduced by 50 percent.
Still, two rockets struck close to Israel's largest southern city, Ashdod, reaching deeper into Israel than ever before, and confirming Israel's concern that militants are now able to put major cities within rocket range. No serious injuries were reported. The rockets landed some 23 miles from Gaza, doubling the militants' previous range.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said it was unclear when the operation would end. The situation in southern Israel "is liable to last longer than we are able to foresee at this time," he told his Cabinet.
The carnage has inflamed Arab public opinion, and the diplomatic fallout came swiftly. |
