Israeli air strike kills top Hamas commander Jabari
The IAF struck and killed Hamas's head of military operations Ahmed Jabari in central Gaza on Wednesday. The airstrike marked the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations in Gaza, IDF spokesman Yoav Mordechai said.
"The first aim of this operation is to bring back quiet to southern Israel, and the second target is to strike at terror organizations," Mordechai said.
Shortly afterwards, the IDF struck over 20 underground rocket launchers belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an airstrike.
The airstrikes targeted long-range rockets in the possession of terror organizations, such as the Fajr-5 and other rockets that are capable of striking Tel Aviv from Gaza. The IDF believes it has eliminated the majority of the long-range threat.
A large part of the weapons storage sites were located in civilian residential buildings, the IDF confirmed. "This is further evidence of the pattern of Hamas to use the population in Gaza as human shields," the IDF said in a statement.
Palestinian sources said that six people in Gaza had been killed in IDF strikes on Wednesday.
Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai told Channel 2 that "the days we face in the South will, in my estimation, prove protracted."
"The homefront must brace itself resiliently," he added.
Mordechai described Jabari as a man with "a lot of blood on his hands." The IDF has urged civilians to pay attention to instructions from the Home Front Command in light of the developments.
Born in 1960, Jabari was directly involved in multiple bomb attacks against the State of Israel, according to the IDF. He joined Hamas after being release from an Israeli prison in 1995, and in 2004 established himself as one of the top military commadners in Hamas.
The IDF says Jabary carried out and ordered numerous terror attacks against Israel, including the abudction of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit and the firing of hunderds of rockets in recent years.
Mordechai added that Gaza is a "forward Iranian base," adding that the latest campaign of air strikes targeted most of the long-range offensive capabilities in the hands of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
He added that columns of smoke were visible around Gaza.
Gantz: All options are open
Over the past 48 hours, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz has approved a series of steps following a four-day rocket barrage on southern Israel.
"All options are open," the IDF spokesman said, adding "we are very determined to strike at terror organizations."
The IDF confirmed that Jabari was killed in the attack which came after four rockets landed in the Eshkol Regional Council area on Wednesday. The IDF was reportedly checking if the rockets were fired from Gaza or Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
Former Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni praised the IDF for the assassination, writing on her Twitter page that it was an "appropriate assassination of the head of a terror organization that is responsible for spilling the blood of Israeli citizens."
Wednesday's violence came after a four-day rocket barrage which began Saturday appeared to have come to an end on Tuesday evening. The hostilities saw over 100 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel and Israeli retaliatory strikes which killed six Palestinians.
Both Israel and Hamas sent signals to each other via Egypt that they would hold their fire unless attacked, after five days of mounting violence.
An official involved in the Egyptian mediation confirmed both sides were ready to stop.
“The message was clear, and Israel too told Egypt they were not interested in escalation if rocket firing stopped. The situation now is calm for calm and I hope it does not deteriorate,” the official told Reuters.
The tacit truce arrested an escalation, but did not completely stop the violence or the rhetoric, as Israel continued to promise that it would defend its citizens.
“Whoever thinks that he can routinely attack the daily lives of the residents of the South without paying a heavy price is mistaken.
I am responsible for choosing the right time to exact the highest possible price and so it will be,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
=============
=============
IDF Kills Hamas's 'Military' Chief, Launches Major Operation
Ahmed Jaabari, the head of Hamas's military wing, was killed. Hamas: 'This is open war.' Missiles on Ashkelon.
By Gil Ronen
First Publish: Arutz Sheva -11/14/2012, 4:40 PM
Jaabari behind Shalit during Shalit's release
Israel news photo: Flash 90
The IAF fired a missile at a car in Gaza Wednesday, killing the commander of Hamas's "military" terror wing, Ahmed Jaabari. Israel's TV Channel 2 says his son was also killed.
There are reports that Raed al-Atar, Commander of Hamas's southern division, has also been killed.
Hamas responded by saying that it was now in a state of "open war" with Israel with no date set for its end.
The IAF reportedly also struck targets in Khan Younes and Rafiah. Channel 2 said that the IAF has been striking launch silos for Hamas's longer-range Fajr rockets, which can hit central Israel, in order to preclude their use. About 20 reinforced silos holding Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 silos were reportedly hit.
Nine people have been killed in Gaza, according to reports.
The IDF has begun a wide scale operation, which has been named "Amud Anan," or "Cloud Column," a phrase that refers to the column that led the Israelites in Sinai during the Exodus from Egypt.
Terror missiles have reportedly been fired at Sderot and Ashkelon. There have been no reports of casualties.
Egypt's response to the events is not yet known. Hamas is saying that the "new Egypt" under Mohammed Morsi must withdraw from the Camp David accords with Israel and expel Israel's ambassador in Cairo.
Among other exploits, Ahmed Jaabari, 52, was personally responsible for the abduction and holding of IDF Sgt. Gilad Shalit. Raed al-Atar was in charge of Hamas's smuggling tunnels. He was released from jail in Israeli in 1995.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak appear to have purposely diverted attention away from Gaza by visiting northern Israel and publicly discussing the Syrian threat Wednesday, in order to make it easier to catch the Hamas off guard.
The IDF Spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, announced on his Facebook page that "A harsh blow has landed upon Hamas's command and control array, as the IDF hit Ahmed Jaabari, the head of the military wing of Hamas in Gaza, who headed the organization and dealt directly with carrying out terror attacks against Israel.
"We are at the beginning of a wide scale attack, in view of the unbearable situation of the residents of the South," he added.
"While we are not talking about conquering all of Gaza," Mordechai told Channel 2, "there is preparation for a ground operation as well, which will be undertaken if it is necessary. The required military units that need to be diverted for such an operation are at the ready," he said.
"The occupation has opened the gates of hell on itself," said a statement from Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which vowed its terrorists would "continue the path of resistance."
More on this topic
Posts
