Gaza rockets land deep in Israel as

it bombards Palestinian enclave

4 OF 4. Palestinians stand atop the rubble of a house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City July 9, 201!
BY
NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI AND JEFFREY HELLER"GAZA/JERUSALEM Wed Jul 9,
2014
#$euters% " Israeli air strikes shook Gaza e&ery few
'inutes on (ednesday, and 'ilitants kept up rocket fire at Israel)s heartland in
intensifyin* warfare that Palestinian officials said has killed at least people in the
+a'as"do'inated encla&e!
,issiles fro' Israel)s Iron -o'e defense syste' shot into the sky to intercept rockets
launched, for the second strai*ht day, at .el /&i&, the country)s co''ercial capital!
(ith cries of )/llahu akbar) #God is *reat%, Palestinians in Gaza cheered as rockets
streaked o&erhead toward Israel, in attacks that could pro&ide a popularity boost for
Isla'ist +a'as, whose rift with nei*hborin* 0*ypt)s 'ilitary"backed *o&ern'ent has
deepened econo'ic hardship!
1ther co''unities near .el /&i& in central Israel and in the south, closer to Gaza,
were also tar*eted! In the lon*est"ran*e attack since .uesday, when Israel stepped up
its offensi&e, a rocket hit near 2ichron 3aako&, a town 114 kilo'eters #50 'iles% north
of Gaza!
6o Israeli fatalities or serious in7uries were reported and Israeli news reports hailed as
heroes the 'ilitary crews of the Iron -o'e batteries, which are 'ade in Israel and
partly funded by the 8nited 9tates! .he 'ilitary said : rockets struck Israel on
(ednesday, and Iron -o'e intercepted 1 others!
(ith fre;uent e<plosions fro' air strikes echoin* throu*h Gaza City, its 'ain
shoppin* street was lar*ely deserted! =ocal residents reported hundreds of attacks on
(ednesday!
.he Israeli 'ilitary said it had bo'barded 440 +a'as sites, includin* >0 rocket
launchers and 11 ho'es of senior +a'as 'e'bers! It described those dwellin*s as
co''and centers!
Palestinian officials said at least 24 houses were either destroyed or da'a*ed and not
all belon*ed to 'ilitants!
.he build"up to the 'ost serious hostilities between Israel and Gaza 'ilitants since an
ei*ht"day war in 2012 be*an three weeks a*o with rocket attacks followin* the
abduction and killin* of three Jewish se'inary students in the occupied (est ?ank!
/t least @: ci&ilians, includin* 10 children, were a'on* the Palestinian dead in two
days of fi*htin*, and so'e @00 people ha&e been wounded, hospital officials said!
Cairo brokered a truce in the conflict two years a*o, but the current *o&ern'ent)s
hostility toward +a'as, which it accuses of aidin* 'ilitants in 0*ypt)s 9inai peninsula,
could 'ake a 'ediation role 'ore difficult! +a'as denies the alle*ations!
Palestinian rocket barra*es ha&e sent Israelis racin* for bo'b shelters, with radio
stations constantly interruptin* re*ular broadcasts to announce where sirens ha&e
sounded! ?ut the .el /&i& 9tock 0<chan*e see'ed untroubled, endin* the day with
shares sli*htly hi*her!
Israeli leaders, who see' to ha&e wide popular support at ho'e for the Gaza
operation, ha&e warned of a len*thy ca'pai*n and possible *round in&asion of the
hea&ily populated Palestinian territory!
A(e ha&e decided to step up e&en 'ore the attacks on +a'as and terrorist
or*anizations in Gaza,A Pri'e ,inister ?en7a'in 6etanyahu said in a state'ent! A.he
Israel -efence Borces #I-B% are prepared for e&ery option! +a'as will pay a hea&y
price for firin* at Israeli citizens!A
6etanyahu)s security cabinet has already appro&ed the potential 'obilization of up to
0,000 reser&e troops!
6etanyahu)s office said he had discussed the situation with 8nited 6ations 9ecretary"
General ?an Ci"'oon, Ger'an Chancellor /n*ela ,erkel and 8!9! 9ecretary of 9tate
John Cerry and that he would speak to other world leaders later!
=ife appeared decepti&ely nor'al in Israeli cities, where shops were open and roads
clo**ed with traffic! ?ut ;uestions were bein* asked on radio talkshows about an e<it
strate*y and a ti'efra'e for the offensi&e!
/t a sidewalk cafe on a fashionable a&enue in .el /&i&, Israel)s 'ost free"wheelin* city,
patrons see'ed to take an air raid siren in their stride, stayin* in line for their coffee as
7o**ers and cyclists passed!
9o'e :0 kilo'eters #40 'iles% away, there were scenes outside ho'es hit by air
strikes of panicked nei*hbors, includin* 'others clutchin* cryin* children, runnin*
into the street to escape what they feared would be another attack!
?ut at one con&enience store, which had re'ained open, /bu /h'ed, >4, said he was
pleased by the 'ilitants) resol&e!
AI a' fine, as lon* as .el /&i& is bein* hit,A he said, as he bou*ht ci*arettes!
+1,09 ./$G0.0-
In an air strike on a ho'e in northern Gaza, a top leader of the Isla'ic Jihad *roup
and fi&e of his fa'ily 'e'bers were killed, the Palestinian Interior ,inistry said! /n
:0"year"old Palestinian wo'an was killed in an Israeli attack on another tar*et in
central Gaza, local officials said!
/ >0"year"old 'an and his son were also killed when two 'issiles hit their house in
?eit +anoun in the northern Gaza 9trip, 'edical officials said!
Israeli strikes on 'ilitants) ho'es, local residents said, are usually preceded by either
warnin* fire or a telephone call tellin* its inhabitants to flee, in an atte'pt by Israel to
a&oid ci&ilian casualties! ?ut such bo'bin* so'eti'es in7ures or kills people in
nei*hborin* houses!
(ashin*ton backed Israel)s actions in Gaza, while the 0uropean 8nion and 8nited
6ations ur*ed restraint on both sides!
8!9! President ?arack 1ba'a, in a Ger'an newspaper article to be published on
.hursday, saidD A/t this ti'e of dan*er, e&eryone in&ol&ed 'ust protect the innocent
and act in a sensible and 'easured way, not with re&en*e and retaliation!A
(estern"backed Palestinian President ,ah'oud /bbas, who is based in the Israeli"
occupied (est ?ank and entered a power"sharin* arran*e'ent with +a'as in /pril
after years of feudin*, said he had spoken to 0*ypt about the Gaza crisis!
A.his war is not a*ainst +a'as or any faction but is a*ainst the Palestinian people,A
/bbas said in a speech in the (est ?ank city of $a'allah!
8nder President /bdel Battah al"9isi, Cairo has secured closures on the 0*yptian"Gaza
border, increasin* econo'ic pressure on +a'as fro' a lon*"runnin* Israeli blockade!
A9isi stressed 0*ypt was interested in the safety of the Palestinian people in the Gaza
9trip and sparin* this *ra&e assault,A a state'ent fro' /bbas)s office said, addin* that
Cairo would Ae<ert efforts to reach an i''ediate ceasefireA!
?ut Israel appeared to play down any e<pectations that 0*ypt would inter&ene soon!
/sked whether 0*ypt was actin* to cal' the situation, Israeli 9trate*ic /ffairs ,inister
3u&al 9teinitz, said on Israel $adioD A(e ha&e a de*ree of cooperation, or dialo*ue,
with 0*ypt, on which I won)t elaborate! It is not so si*nificant!A
In the (est ?ank, about 00 Palestinian youths, chantin* their support for +a'as)s
ar'ed win*, threw stones at an Israeli ar'y checkpoint on (ednesday! 9oldiers
responded with tear *as and rubber bullets!
Israel has bla'ed +a'as for the killin* of the three Jewish se'inary students who
disappeared while hitchhikin* in the (est ?ank on June 12! +a'as has neither
confir'ed nor denied a role!
.he rocket fire fro' Gaza be*an after Israel arrested hundreds of +a'as acti&ists in a
(est ?ank sweep it 'ounted in tande' with a search for the youths, who were found
dead last week! / Palestinian teen was abducted and killed in Jerusale' last
(ednesday in a suspected re&en*e 'urder! 9i< Israelis ha&e been arrested in that case!
(hile threatenin* an Aearth;uakeA of escalation a*ainst Israel, +a'as said it could
restore cal' if Israel halted the Gaza offensi&e, once a*ain co''itted to a 2012
ceasefire truce and freed the prisoners it detained in the (est ?ank last 'onth!
#/dditional reportin* by -an (illia's, ,aayan =ubell and 1ri =ewis in Jerusale',
6oah ?rownin* and /li 9awafta in $a'allah and ,ark Belsenthal in (ashin*tonE
(ritin* by Jeffrey +ellerE 0ditin* by (ill (ater'an%