Israeli and Palestinians woke to a second day of airstrikes and rocket fire, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas intensified. Amid speculation about an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, there were reports of missiles from Gaza striking deep inside of Israel, as far north as Zichron Yaakov, which is 70 miles from the Gaza Strip.
Yesterday, air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and Israelis ran for cover. Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system reportedly successfully intercepted most of the incoming rockets.
The Guardian newspaper (London) put the Palestinian death toll in Gaza at 32, as of Wednesday morning. That number includes a number of “senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants. More than 150 people have been injured. There have been about 440 air strikes since the beginning of the week.”
JTA reported: “The Israeli military reportedly has hit more targets in Gaza in the first day and a half of fighting than during the entire eight-day conflict of November 2012.
“The current bombing campaign, which the Israel Defense Forces has dubbed Operation Protective Edge, has used 400 tons of explosives against targets in Gaza, the Jerusalem Post quoted an anonymous senior Israeli security source as saying.”
