Israel, Hamas Violence Escalates

Israeli aircraft blasted suspected weapons facilities and other militant targets throughout the Gaza Strip on Sunday, wounding at least 19 people and causing heavy damage, as the army opened a "prolonged" offensive against Hamas following a barrage of rocket attacks against Israeli towns.

The offensive dashed hopes that Israel's recently completed Gaza withdrawal would help restart peace talks and left a seven-month-old cease-fire on the brink of collapse. The fighting also raised already intense pressure on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to confront militants.

The Israeli military was conducting sweeping arrests of Palestinian wanted men in the West Bank early Sunday, military sources said. The military has arrested more than 200 Palestinian militants CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports.

The Israeli Security Cabinet, a group of senior officials led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, approved the military operation at an emergency meeting late Saturday after Hamas militants fired nearly 40 rockets at Israeli towns. The rocket barrage, which lightly wounded six Israelis, was the Islamic group's first major attack since the Gaza pullout.

"It was decided to launch a prolonged and constant attack on Hamas," said Maj. Gen. Yisrael Ziv, the army's head of operations, hinting that Israel was preparing to resume targeted attacks against top Hamas leaders. Asked whether the leaders were in danger, he said: "Let them decide for themselves."

"Operation First Rain" will include air strikes and will culminate in a ground assault, unless the Palestinian Authority takes action to prevent rocket attacks, Berger reports.

Israel killed dozens of Hamas leaders, including its founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, in targeted killings during four years of violence. Following the February cease-fire, Israel suspended the practice.

The crisis erupted ahead of a major challenge to Sharon's leadership of the hardline Likud Party and could strengthen the hand of Sharon's main rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has warned the Gaza pullout would encourage militant attacks. A Likud vote Monday could determine whether Sharon quits the party — a move that is would likely bring early elections and prompt Sharon to form a new centrist party to capture mainstream voters.

The ground operation would require final approval from the full Cabinet, the officials added. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicize the operation's details.

Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa called the plan a "serious escalation that will lead to a new era of violence."

Shortly after the ministers' decision, Israeli aircraft struck a series of targets throughout Gaza, including three weapons-storage facilities and a Gaza City school that the army said served as a front for Hamas.

Other targets included the offices of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small militant group. The Popular Resistance Committees, another armed group, said the home of one of its commanders was targeted. The commander, Amer Karmout, survived the attack but two relatives were wounded, the group said.

Israeli military officials said the attacks were aimed at any group possessing weapons. But the offensive was focused on Hamas, the largest Palestinian militant group.

The Gaza City air strike caused heavy damage to the Al-Arkam school, which was founded by Yassin. The army said Hamas used the building to raise funds for attacks, recruit militants and assist families of suicide bombers.

The attack occurred in a crowded neighborhood, damaging at least five nearby homes, knocking out electricity and covering the area with a burnt smell. Fifteen people were lightly wounded, medical officials said.

On Saturday, an Israeli aircraft struck two cars carrying Hamas militants, killing two local field commanders. The attack signaled a resumption of targeted killings, albeit of relatively low-level militants.

The chain of events began Friday afternoon, with an explosion at a Hamas rally in Gaza's crowded Jebaliya refugee camp in which at least 15 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded.

Hamas blamed Israel for that blast, and said its rocket attacks on Israeli towns were meant as retaliation. However, the Palestinian Authority held the Islamic militants responsible, saying the explosion was set off by a rocket-propelled grenade in the back of a truck.

In a speech Saturday, Abbas renewed demands that armed groups stop flaunting their weapons in public. "We are required more than ever before to end this frequent tragedy that resulted from chaos and military parades in residential areas," he said.

Hamas called Abbas' position "a stab in the back of the martyrs" and a blow to efforts to work out differences between the factions.

Abbas has been trying to co-opt Hamas by offering them a chance to compete in upcoming elections and has rejected calls by Israel and the international community to confront and disarm the militants. Israel wants Hamas barred from participating in the vote as long as it remains armed.

Hamas vowed to avenge Saturday's deadly air strike, calling on its militants in a statement to strike Israel "in every spot of our occupied land." At least four more rockets fell in Israel after the air strike.

As the Israeli air strikes continued through the night, large numbers of ground forces deployed near northern Gaza, the launching area for most rocket attacks.

In an unprecedented step, Israel set up five artillery cannons elsewhere on the border. In the past, Israel retaliated for Palestinian rocket fire with missile strikes from the air or with ground incursions. Artillery fire is less precise than missiles, and artillery shells fired into densely populated Gaza could cause many casualties.

Israel indefinitely sealed the West Bank and Gaza, barring thousands of Palestinians from jobs in Israel. Officials also said the army planned to order residents of northern Gaza to leave their homes so Israel could create a "buffer zone."

Ziv, the Israeli commander, and other officials said they hoped the military campaign would encourage Palestinians to put pressure on Hamas to halt its activities. "We are calling on the Palestinian population to stand up for their rights and ... see where the Hamas is taking them," Ziv said.

The army on Saturday dropped fliers throughout Gaza saying that Hamas had sparked the escalation. Hamas' lies are "driving you to destruction and despair," the flier said.