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daveboy

Massive Israeli air raids on Gaza



The missile strikes caused panic in Gaza

Israeli F-16 bombers have launched a series of air strikes against key targets in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 155 people, medical chiefs say.
Gaza officials and the Hamas militant group said about 200 others were hurt as missiles hit security compounds and militant bases across the territory.
The strikes, the most intense Israeli attacks on Gaza for decades, come days after a truce with Hamas expired.
Israel said the operation would go on "as long as necessary".
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said "it won't be easy and it won't be short".
"There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight," he said, quoted by Reuters.

Israel said it was responding to an escalation in rocket attacks from Gaza.
Palestinian militants frequently fire rockets against Israeli towns from inside the Gaza Strip; large numbers of rocket and mortar shells had been fired at Israel in recent days.
In a statement, Israel's military said it targeted "Hamas terror operatives" as well as training camps and weapons storage warehouses.

daveboy

Israel's defence minister says airstrikes on Gaza will continue for "as long as necessary" after attacks on Hamas installations killed at least 155 people.


Israeli air strikes


At least 200 people have also been wounded after Israel fired around 30 missiles into the densely populated city.
Hamas has already responded by firing rockets back from Gaza, and one Israeli has been killed in the retaliatory strikes.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said: "The operation will go on and be intensified as long as necessary.
"It won't be easy and it won't be short. There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight."
Many Hamas security compounds are in residential areas, and the Israeli airstrikes took place as children were leaving school.
One police compound was hosting a graduation ceremony for new personnel when it was attacked.
The dead include police chief Tawfiq Jabber, Hamas radio reported, while most of Hamas' police buildings have been destroyed.

A victim is stretchered away

The attacks followed a decision by Israel's security cabinet to strike back after renewed rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli border towns.
The Israeli military confirmed they had conducted strikes, saying they targeted "terrorist infrastructure".
An IDF statement said: "Our aviation intervened massively against Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip to stop the terrorist attacks of the past several weeks against Israeli civilian installations.
"Our operations will continue and will be expanded if necessary."

"The Hamas government's leaders and operatives, who activate terror from within civilian population centres, are the sole bearers of responsibility for Israel's military response."

The Israeli Defence Force statement about the Gaza attacks

A spokesman from the Israeli embassy in London told Sky News, "They have enough time to evacuate civilians from those places but they don't do it.
"They didn't do it on purpose because they want Israel to cause them civilian casualties."
Hamas and other Palestinian factions have ordered their troops to avenge the attack.
A statement from Islamic Jihad said: "All fighters are ordered to respond to the Israeli slaughter."
The Palestian chief negotiator Hanan Ashwari told Sky News, "There is tremendous public outrage - this is a massive cold-blooded act, it has to stop immediately."
Hamas deputy chairman Mousa Abu Marzook told Sky News: "We act against Israeli aggression. The Israelis hit some people and we react against them with rockets."
The attacks follow the end of a six-month truce between the two sides.
A British Foreign Office spokesman said: "While we understand the Israeli government's obligation to protect its population, we urge maximum restraint to avoid further civilian casualities.
"We are also calling on militants in the Gaza Strip to immediately cease all rocket attacks on Israel".
The United States did not call for the air strikes to stop but said caution was needed.
A White House statement said: "Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people.
"The United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza."
Egypt has been involved in trying to broker peace between the two sides.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said: "Egypt condemns the Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip and blames Israel, as an occupying force, for the victims and the wounded."

dirtydog

YouTube - Israeli rockets kill over 150 people in Gaza

Gaza strikes

Butterfly

Israelis, like Americans, terrorizing and killing civilians

this is an obvious abuse of the Geneva Convention and other International charters

War Crime tribunal should start prosecuting those Israeli Nazi

chitown

WW 3 is in the making for sure.

Butterfly

^ yeah, we should nuke Israel, unless Iran beat us to it

of course, all women and children should be settled in the US first, that's the civil thing to do

chitown

The Mussies are out to take over the world. I would rather see peace, but won't side with those barbarians for nothing.

Panda

So long as USA keeps protecting Israel in the UN with its power of veto, and so long as USA keeps funding and arming Israel, we can expect to see this sort of thing going on for many decades to come.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Massive Israeli air raids on Gaza



"US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Hamas of having triggered the new bout of violence.



"The United States is deeply concerned about the escalating violence in Gaza," she said in a statement.
"We strongly condemn the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence there. The ceasefire must be restored immediately and fully respected."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also urged an immediate halt to the violence, condemning what he called Israel's "excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians" and "the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants".

Note Rices lack of compassion for the civilian casualties.

Jools

The only bad thing about this operation is that, so far, they have only killed a paltry 200 of these sub-human scum. Israel is showing the world how to deal with a cancer that is eating civilization from the inside out. Bravo, chaps.

bkkandrew

There will be many distractions in the coming days that will bring evil and tyranny to the world.

keda

Yep, and Hussein's going to need all of his conjuring skills to satisfy each side that he's properly scolding the other.

Boon Mee

It’s been a long time coming, but Hamas made a major fok up - what else is new? - when they announced the end of the “truce” and barraged Israel with rockets: More than 200 dead as Israel hammers Hamas-run Gaza. Why should anyone feel sorry that Hamas terrorists have been killed? The majority of dead are Hamas combatants.

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israel hammered Hamas targets in Gaza on Saturday, killing at least 205 people in retaliation for ongoing rocket fire in one of the bloodiest days of the decades-long Middle East conflict.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said “Operation Cast Lead,” which has also left some 300 wounded, would continue “as long as necessary.”

“The battle will be long and difficult, but the time has come to act and to fight,” he said.
Following the mid-morning wave of attacks, which saw some 60 aircraft bomb the impoverished, overcrowded territory, Hamas swiftly responded by firing several dozen rockets into the Jewish state, killing one Israeli.

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ผมเป็นคนบ้านนอก

kingwilly

if you were saying this with a sacarsm smilie, it would be great a post, unfortunately i think you really mean it.

Loy Toy

A quick remedy for the global recession!

Jools

Most assuredly I DO mean it. Hamas represents a relatively pure form of anti-semitism. Too many died before. Never again. There are no "innocent civilians" in this type of conflict. It's kill or be killed.

Boon Mee

Got that right Jools. Imagine being criticized for defending one's own country. The Pali-supporters aboard here are mistaken who are the bad guys in this conflict.

Wallalai

Killing civilians and childrens is pure barbarism. Then Israel is not better than the terrorists on the other side. And you're stupider than a cow shit to applause it.

keda

Not one was a terrorist. Israel only targets civilians in overcrowded residential areas where the terrorists like to hide out, on the off chance that a stray missile might injure one or two.

Jools

kingwilly

What a moronic reply. Is that your reply to the question of killing innocents ?

Let me tell you, the Israelis are jsut as bad as the bladdy nazis in the first place, the state of israel should be forfeit due to their behaviour.