Israel says 3 killed in rocket fire from Gaza after assassination of Hamas chief Ahmed Jabari

Updated at 11:22 a.m. Eastern

GAZA CITY, Gaza strip Israeli aircraft, tanks and naval gunboats pounded the Hamas-ruled Gaza strip on Thursday and rocket salvoes thudded into southern Israel, as terrified residents on both sides of the frontier holed up at home in anticipation of heavy fighting on the second day of Israel's offensive against Islamic militants.

The operation, launched in response to days of rocket fire from the Palestinian territory, kicked off with the assassination of Hamas' top military commander and deepened the instability gripping the Mideast. Israel's already strained relations with Egypt's new Islamist government frayed even further as Egypt recalled its ambassador Wednesday in response to the Israeli military operation.

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Israel, Palestinians in deadly clashes

The Israeli army said a rocket reached the southern outskirts of Tel Aviv, by far the farthest strike by Gaza militants in two days of fighting. The military said the rocket landed in Rishon Lezion, a city just south of Tel Aviv located in heavily populated central Israel. No damage or injuries were reported.

Defense officials say Israel is prepared to launch a ground invasion into Gaza if necessary. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the army was prepared for a "significant widening" of its Gaza offensive.

"No government would tolerate a situation where nearly a fifth of its people live under a constant barrage of rockets and missile fire, and Israel will not tolerate this situation," he said. "This is why my government has instructed the Israeli Defense Forces to conduct surgical strikes against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. And this is why Israel will continue to take whatever action is necessary to defend our people."

CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey, reporting from the southern Israeli border town of Sderot, said myriad appeals from around the world for both sides to halt the attacks went completely ignored, and there were mounting fears that the clashes could spiral out of control.

Israel's defenses include a network of interceptor missiles placed in various border locations, known as the Iron Dome. The system intercepted a number of missiles Thursday, but many more got through.

Israeli soldiers lie on the ground as missiles are fired from an Iron Dome anti-missile station, Nov. 15, 2012 near the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel.

/ AP

Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited one of the Iron Dome sites in Be'er Sheva Thursday morning and lauded the network, but warned Israelis, "the system does not provide 100 percent protection; there is no such thing as a perfect system."

Just days earlier, Israel was drawn into Syria's civil war for the first time, firing missiles into its northern neighbor for the first time in four decades after stray mortar fire landed in Israeli-occupied Syrian territory. There were reports by Arabic media Thursday morning that an Israeli soldier in the occupied Golan Heights was wounded by fire from the clashes between the warring Syrian factions across the border. That report could not immediately be confirmed.

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Watch: Israeli Defense Forces pinpoint strike on Hamas leader

Waves of airstrikes on more than 100 militant targets quickly followed the assassination of Hamas mastermind Ahmed Jabari. The air attacks continued steadily into the early hours Thursday, targeting the armed group's training facilities and rocket launchers in Israel's most intense attack on the territory since its full-scale war there four years ago.

According to Arabic media, a total of 13 Palestinians had been killed in at least 80 Israeli airstrikes this week. Five of those killed were said to have been Hamas militants, including Jabari. The death toll could not be independently confirmed.

Rocket fire into southern Israel, meanwhile, killed three people in an apartment building Thursday morning, Israeli police say. The casualties in the town of Kiryat Malachi were the first in Israel since it launched its operation on Wednesday.

Ten Palestinians, including two young children and seven militants, were killed on the operation's first day, and more than 93 were wounded. Early on Thursday, Israel targeted a motorcycle carrying a rocket squad, killing one militant and wounding two, a Palestinian health official said. The Israeli military had no immediate confirmation of this report.

Tank shells and naval gunfire backed up the air onslaught. Few in the territory's largest urban area, Gaza City, heeded the call for dawn prayers, and the only vehicles plying the streets were ambulances and media cars.

In Washington, the United States lined up behind Israel. "We support Israel's right to defend itself, and we encourage Israel to continue to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties," said State Department spokesman Mark Toner.

President Obama spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the two men agreed Hamas needs to stop its attacks on Israel to allow tensions to ease, the White House said.

Mr. Obama spoke separately to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, given Egypt's central role in preserving regional security, the White House said. The two men agreed on the need to de-escalate the conflict as quickly as possible.

• Egypt asks U.S. to stop Israel's Gaza assault

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm and urged both sides to respect international humanitarian law.

On Wednesday night, the U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors to consider an Egyptian request for an emergency meeting on Israel's military action in Gaza. The Palestinians asked the council to act to stop the operation.

Gaza schools have been ordered closed until the operation ends, and most of the territory's 1.6 million people were expected to hunker down close to home, venturing out only to buy food, fuel and other basic supplies. Hamas announced a state of emergency in Gaza, evacuating all its security buildings and deploying its troops away from their locations.

Dozens of rockets bombarded southern Israel after the operation began, the militants undeterred by the relentless air attacks. No serious casualties were reported as Israel declared a state of emergency in its south and instructed people to remain close to fortified areas.

School was canceled within a 25-mile radius of Gaza. People living in areas hugging the frontier were ordered to stay home from work, save for essential services, and shopping centers were shut down. Israeli police stepped up patrols around the country, fearing Hamas could retaliate with bombing attacks far from the reaches of Gaza.

Israel said the airstrikes Wednesday were the beginning of a broader operation against the Islamic militants. They also said a ground operation was a strong possibility in the coming days if Hamas didn't take steps to rein in the rocket fire.

The Israeli military says it has destroyed dozens of the militants' most potent rockets -- the Iranian-made Fajr, which is capable of striking Israel's Tel Aviv heartland -- as well as shorter-range rockets.

In all, the military estimates Hamas had 10,000 rockets and mortars in its arsenal before the military operation began.

In a nationwide address, Netanyahu said Israel could no longer stand repeated attacks on its southern towns. Days of rocket fire have heavily disrupted life for some 1 million people in the region, canceling school and forcing residents to remain indoors.

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

In a sign the operation might broaden, the military was cleared to call up special reserve units.

Israel and Hamas have largely observed an informal truce for the past four years.

But in recent weeks, the calm has unraveled in a bout of rocket attacks out of Gaza and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes. From Israel's perspective, Hamas escalated tit-for-tat fighting in recent days with a pair of attacks: an explosion in a tunnel along the Israeli border and a missile attack on an Israeli military jeep that seriously wounded four soldiers.



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[Atlantis77]

The media (and apparently most commenters here) have bought into Israel's propaganda by referring to Gaza's "missles" and "rockets". Actually, what the beseiged citizens of Palestine have are MORTARS. There is a huge difference between the mortar and the rockets that the IDF actually use against innocents. You can see this by the 100-to-1 rate of deaths every time there is an exchange of fire. Mortars are meant to send a message and rarely kill. The message to Israel and its Western supporters is: stop abuse and genocide.

[mwl55]

Idiotic comment. When you shoot at somebody expect return fire.

[sincity_q]

First, it was not an assassination. Hamas is the first to say that they are at war with Israel and it is they who began this latest affair by rocketing Israeli civilian areas.
Second, the person killed was an Hamas military commander. In war, he is an enemy and is a legit target. They call it a war, he was a casualty. Period.
Third, if a Hamas missile killed an Israeli commander, there would be jubilation in Gaza and at CBS... along with CNN, ABC, Huff Puffington and the rest of the antisemitic media.
Last, all war is hell. Stop.

[Atlantis77]

The media (and apparently this moron) have bought into Israel's propaganda by referring to Gaza's "missles" and "rockets". Actually, what the beseiged citizens of Palestine have are MORTARS. There is a huge difference between the mortar and the rockets that the IDF actually use against innocents. You can see this by the 100-to-1 rate of deaths every time there is an exchange of fire. Mortars are meant to send a message and rarely kill. The message to Israel and its Western supporters is: stop abuse and genocide.

[TimeToEvolve]

Israel is a right wing terrorist operation. A lot of their rhetoric sounds just like the stuff that came out of the neo con Bush Crime Family operation. Israel must be stopped.

Join emergency marches and protests all over the US and the world today. And don't buy any Soda Stream product this holiday.

[JESNYC]

The second paragraph of this article should be FIRST. How dare you slant the news by leading off with acts of self-defense as if they are acts of aggression and then secondarily saying that they are INDEED responsive to deadly missile launches in the hundreds. And "2 days of fighting"?? Are two people fighting when one is strangling the other and the one being strangled kicks the strangler in the groin? No they are not fighting...the person being strangled is defending themselves. Nobody wants to be strangled to begin with so don't call it "fighting" like it's a sport-this is life and death. This is terror versus freedom.

[markb3699]

Also, the following was near the bottom of the first page. I guess CBS doesn't feel it's important enough to clue people in to the history, but my fear is that all the Israel bashers will automatically assume that Israel is to blame for the latest round:

"Israel and Hamas have largely observed an informal truce for the past four years.

But in recent weeks, the calm has unraveled in a bout of rocket attacks out of Gaza and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes. From Israel's perspective, Hamas escalated ***-for-tat fighting in recent days with a pair of attacks: an explosion in a tunnel along the Israeli border and a missile attack on an Israeli military jeep that seriously wounded four soldiers."

[SkyhawkG1000Flyer]

It's amazing how many article are headlined with Israel attacking Gaza but no none indicating they were a response to attacks. Even more interesting, there's little to no mention of Hamas attacking Israeli residential areas while Israel responds by firing only military targets.

[Atlantis77]

The media (and apparently SkyhawkG) have bought into Israel's propaganda by referring to Gaza's "missles" and "rockets". Actually, what the beseiged citizens of Palestine have are MORTARS. There is a huge difference between the mortar and the rockets that the IDF actually use against innocents. You can see this by the 100-to-1 rate of deaths every time there is an exchange of fire. Mortars are meant to send a message and rarely kill. The message to Israel and its Western supporters is: stop abuse and genocide.

[hamiltongrad]

Be aware of the Passive voice the media uses when the Palestineans attack targets, like school buses -- "Violence Breaks Out.." like some kind of storm front or virus.

When Israel reacts to the Palest attacks, the MEDIA uses the ACTIVE voice, like "Israel ATTACKS GAZA killing ..."

The media is BIASED. Shame on them

[TimeToEvolve]

Israel and their puppet the United States Congress have become the worls's most infamous state sponsors of terrorism. Let's end this policy and AIPAC now.

[markb3699]

Hamas launches rockets into Israel and Israel strikes back to defend itself and you call that terrorism. Time to evolve by growing a brain.

[melbatom]

This area was once occupied by what we know as Philippines. No one know who they are or for sure where they came from. The area was NOT attacked by Israel during the giving of the land to the Jews under Moses occupation when they were ordered by God to destroy all and make no deals in the land of Canaan. This area we know today as Gaza has been a source of conflict with Israel since Jews came into being. If you will do a little research you find that this land was the place King David fled from King Saul when Saul attempted to destroy David. Note also this is where David learned how to process IRON which changed Israel Military Forces arming them with Steel Swords and Iron wheels. The God of that Land was one who appeared as half fish and half man where they placed the Ark of Israel when they defeated and captured the Ark during battles. Look it up for your self. When you do the battle will make a lot of sense.

[mwl55]

This is why I seldom watch CBS national news and always verify anything reported. Headline is misleading. It should have read, "After Days of Palestinian Rocket Salvoes, Israel Takes Defensive Action".

[hamiltongrad]

YOU are correct. When there is a Palestinean Attack, like a bus of children being targeted, the media, including CBS uses a PASSIVE voice, "Violence Breaks Out". like some kind of virus or storm front hits. But...when Israel reacts to defend itself, the media reports in an ACTIVE voice "Israel ATTACKS".... look for this BIAS. They are trained to do this, just read the AP guide to the Middle E for their reporters... shame on them.

[sarafinaa]

watch and see
GOD BLESS ISRAEL.