After another night of rocket attacks into Gaza by Israel, WSJ's Matt Bradley reports Saturday, November 17th, from the destroyed Hamas cabinet office and the Palestine Sports Club in the Gaza Strip. Via WSJ's #WorldStream.
Hopes for an Israel-Hamas cease-fire Sunday ebbed as Israeli aircraft struck a Hamas radio headquarters on a building with international journalists inside and militant rocket fire triggered continuous sirens throughout southern Israel.
The hostilities seemed to slow on both sides over the weekend amid efforts by Egypt and other international mediators to broker a truce. But fighting appeared to step up Sunday, raising new concerns about Israel launching a ground invasion, a move that would dramatically escalate the five-day old war.
"The Israel Defense Forces have attacked until now more than 1,000 terror locations in the Gaza Strip, and it is continuing at this moment,'' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Israeli cabinet at its weekly meeting Sunday morning. "The IDF is prepared to significantly widen the operation.''
[h=3]Photos: Conflict in Gaza Strip, Israel[/h]
Ali Ali/European Pressphoto AgencySmoke rose from Hamas sites after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City Saturday.A fifth day of Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip killed six Palestinian civilians, raising the death toll to 52 with more than 500 injured, according to the Palestinian news agency. So far three Israelis have been killed by Gaza rocket fire.
Meanwhile talks among Arab states continue in Cairo on how to bring the crisis to an end. Hamas is demanding Israel agree to end its five-year-old blockade on the coastal strip, and is hoping that images of casualties and destruction in Gaza will spur international pressure on Israel to stand down.
"After this aggression, I think the cost for achieving any cease-fire should be higher than the normal things," said Ahmed Youssef, a senior adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. "I do believe that the blockade is part of it."
Israeli soldiers take positions on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
Israel, on the other hand, is demanding that Hamas commit to enforce a moratorium on rocket fire. Analysts in Israel have speculated that Mr. Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and military chiefs prefer to avoid a risky ground operation, but are liable to give the green light if the rocket fire continues.
By Sunday afternoon, Israel launched a wide ranging air assault on Gaza targets, and assassinated a Hamas commander in charge of the militant group's rocket launch squad, according to the Haaretz website.
[h=3]More Video[/h]
Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil made a historic visit to the Gaza Strip amid the biggest flare-up of violence in years between Israel and Hamas, underscoring the acute dilemma Egypt's new Islamist government faces. Matt Bradley has details from the Gaza Strip on The News Hub. Photo: Getty Images.