Israeli military hits Gaza hard - Calgary Herald

Israel launched a major offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza on Wednesday, killing the military commander of Hamas in an air strike and threatening an invasion of the enclave that Hamas vowed would "open the gates of hell."

The onslaught shattered hopes that a truce mediated a day earlier by Egypt could pull the two sides back from the brink of war after five days of escalating Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli strikes at militant targets.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday night about the attacks. The White House said Obama reiterated U.S. support for Israel's right to self-defence from rocket attacks being launched against its civilians and urged Israel to "make every effort to avoid civilian casualties" in its response.

Israel carried out a blistering offensive of more than 50 airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Operation "Pillar of Defence" began with a surgical strike on a car carrying the commander of the military wing of Hamas, the Iranian-armed Islamist movement which controls Gaza and dominates a score of smaller armed groups.

Within minutes of the death of Ahmad Jabari, big explosions were rocking Gaza, as the Israeli air force struck just before sundown, blasting plumes of smoke and debris high above the crowded city.

Panicking civilians ran for cover and the death toll mounted quickly. At least nine other people including three children were killed, the health ministry said, and about 40 people were wounded.

Army tanks shelled border areas of Gaza and the Israeli navy shelled a Hamas security position from the sea.

The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted more than 20 facilities that served as storage or launching sites for rockets. Among the weapons destroyed were rockets that could hit as far as 40 kilometres into Israel, it said.

It was the heaviest Israeli barrage on the Palestinian territory in four years.

Palestinian militants responded to the Israeli attack with renewed rocket fire. The Israeli military said its "Iron Dome" defence system intercepted 13 rockets from Gaza.

Netanyahu said Israel could not tolerate continued rocket attacks against its citizens and said the military was prepared to broaden its operation against Hamas targets in Gaza.

"If there will be a need, the military is prepared to expand the operation," Netanyahu said. "We will continue to do everything to protect our citizens."

The military said the operation could escalate with a ground attack, although the chief military spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, indicated such an operation was not imminent "at this stage."

The military warned, however, that "all options are on the table. If necessary, the (Israeli military) is ready to initiate a ground operation in Gaza."

The killing of Jabari marked a dramatic resumption of Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian militant leaders.

He was the most senior Hamas official to be killed since the last war in Gaza ended in early 2009. He has long topped Israel's most-wanted list, blamed for a string of deadly attacks.