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No ground attack as Israel seeks to decapitate Hamas with airstrikes
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Israel has renewed its attempts to decapitate the leadership of Hamas in missile strikes, killing a top military commander as it pounded targets in Gaza for the eighth day.
Amid speculation of an imminent ground assault, the Israeli cabinet deliberated late into Friday night before reaching a consensus to prolong the air campaign rather than send tanks rolling into the tiny Palestinian territory. Late on Saturday Israeli army units entered the battle for the first time, using artillery to shell parts of Gaza City.
The tactics paid swift dividends with the death of Mohammed al-Jamal, 40, the most senior commander from the Hamas armed wing Izzedine al-Qassam to be killed so far. Jamal, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Zakariya, died from injuries sustained in a street side missile strike.
Israel said he was responsible for all rocket fire from central Gaza City and sources in Gaza described him as military commander for the Tel el Howa district, site of a ministerial compound heavily bombed by Israel in the first week of its campaign.
Debate between Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, Tzipi Livni, foreign minister, Ehud Barak, defence minister, and military chiefs was intense with the meeting running much longer than expected and lasting over four hours. While discussions within the Israeli war cabinet have been increasingly protracted, there have been no signs of fundamental divisions emerging.
Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting are likely to rest on persuading key decision makers to pause attacks or seek a ceasefire. Gordon Brown issued his strongest comments yet on the crisis, calling for an immediate end to hostilities and declaring that "too many" had died.
"The Prime Minister has spoken again today to Prime Minister Olmert, and is pressing hard for an immediate ceasefire," a Downing Street spokesman said. "Rocket attacks from Hamas must stop, and we have called for a halt to Israeli military action in Gaza. Too many have died, and we need space to get humanitarian supplies to those who need them.
"We are working urgently with international partners to address the underlying causes of the conflict, including trafficking of arms into Gaza. Action is necessary to reopen the Gaza/ Egypt border, but in a way that does not undermine Israel's security."
The most senior Hamas military commander to die in previous attacks was Ismail Jaabari, leader of a local militia known as "Protection and God" who was killed at the outset of the attacks a week earlier.
Israel's ability to identify and target an individual Hamas moving in the open raised suspicions they were working with information provided by informers.
Jamal's killing represented another coup for Israel after an airstrike on Thursday killed Nizar Rayan, a senior Hamas political leader responsible for policy and strategy.
Pleas from aid groups, the United Nations and the European Union for an immediate ceasefire to help deal with a humanitarian crisis faced by Gaza's 1.5 million population have so far been frustrated by continuing rocket fire from the Strip. Israel showed no willingness to let up on a campaign that it believes has pushed Hamas into a corner while Hamas militants continued to fire rockets into Israel in spite of the threat of immediate targeted reprisals by Israel.
The war cabint was briefed on an armed forces list of fresh targets that were later attacked including two houses that Israel claimed were the homes of Hamas leaders.
"The house of Hamas terror operative Ismail Renam in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, which functioned as a weaponry storage, specifically for rocket launching equipment,'' the list said. "Renam has a central role in the launching of Grad type rockets against Israel.
"The house of Azadin Hadad, a Hamas terror operative in Gaza City, that was used to orchestrate terror activity and as a meeting place for terror operatives. Hadad is the head of the Hamas military group in eastern Gaza city.'' In another strike a car near the southern city of Khan Yunis was attacked killing two men, medics said. The identity of the victims was not immediately available.
East of the Khan Yunis refugee camp, a missile narrowly missed a car carrying militants who escaped unharmed, witnesses said.
A guard was killed when a missile struck and demolished a school in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, medics said.
The Israeli armed forces said they had targeted "a college used as a base for firing a large number of rockets."
Israel continued to bar foreign media, including the Telegraph, from reaching Gaza, failing to follow an order from the Israeli supreme court to allow in a limited number. The order came after a case brought the foreign press association in Israel.
According to an unconfirmed count 442 Palestinians and 4 Israelis have been killed since operation Cast Lead began last week.
[link to www.telegraph.co.uk]
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