Israel commences ground operation in Gaza
The Israeli government had made its goal clear prior to starting the military offensive. It said it would do whatever was necessary to eradicate Hamas from its roots irrespective of how long it would take. Yesterday Israel commenced the ground operation it had been preparing to launch since the past couple of days.
With troops moving in on foot the risk of civilian casualties increases. As it is the confrontation has cost over 430 Palestinian lives along with the death of four Israelis up till now.
Gaza is a densely populated region and a ground operation aimed at hunting down Hamas targets is bound to give rise to civilian casualties. At the same time however the Israeli military will also be exposed to new threats. Hamas has been in the region for almost two years within which it has managed to accumulate a considerable amount of ammunition. The world has been witnessing the kind of fire power that Hamas is equipped with in the recent rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli territory. Hamas has been making use of sophisticated long range missiles amidst the Israeli air strikes.
Hospitals in Palestine reported three civilian deaths overnight whereas the Hamas run television channel Al Aksa reported that five Israeli soldiers had been killed. The Israeli military did not confirm the claims made by Al Aksa and dismissed the effort as being a tactic to lower the military’s morale.
International pressure has mounted in the past couple of days urging both the sides to accept an immediate cease fire but such efforts have been shunned completely. Many European cities witnessed protests appealing to Israel to stop the bloody campaign against the Palestinians.
The White House has been rather conservative in restricting Israel from wreaking the havoc that it has been amongst the civilian population of Gaza. The most it could do was issue a statement urging Israel to “be mindful of the potential consequences to civilians.”
The Israeli military is however determined to continue its campaign until it gains control over the missile launching sites Hamas has been using to target southern Israel. Military officials have stated that their aim is not to reoccupy Gaza yet it is engaged in a grueling operation that has resulted in heavy loss of civilian lives.
Senior Hamas leader killed in Israeli airstrikes
Israel managed to claim the life of one of its sought after targets after a missile hit the home of Hamas’s senior leader on Thursday. The air attacks from Israel have claimed up to four hundred Palestinian lives since the offensive was initiated.
The man killed in the attack was Nizar Rayyan. He was regarded as being one of the most hard line political leaders of the party. He was particularly known for calling for the revival of suicide attacks inside Israel. His death was confirmed along with two of his wives and seven of his children.
The death of Nizar saw supporters of Hamas come out on the streets and vowing take revenge as they saw the mangled bodies lying on the floor. Ayman Taha an official for Hamas said “The blood of Sheikh Nizar Rayyan and the blood of other martyrs will never be wasted and the enemy will pay a heavy price for the crimes it has committed.”
Rayyan served as a preacher at the “mosque of martyrs” in Jabalya and was known for advocating suicide bombing in theory and practice. The hard line militant would always be armed and was often seen patrolling the streets of Gaza along with other fighters.
Hamas leaders knew very well that they were being targeted by the Israeli air strikes. Many of them had left their homes after receiving clear warnings. Forty nine year old Rayyan however refused to evacuate his home as declared by Hamas radio which led to his eventual demise.
Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni said “I think that even now, after a few days of operation we have achieved changes, we affected most of the infrastructure of terror within the Gaza Strip and the question whether it’s enough will be according to an assessment on a daily basis.”
Thursday night the Jabalya mosque was brought down to the ground by Israeli air strikes who claimed that the mosque was being used as a meeting place and a command post for the militant group. There were big explosions at the site of the mosque which indicated that the place was also being used as a storage place for rockets and other fire power. The Israeli forces are ready and waiting at the Gaza frontier for a possible ground operation to begin anytime soon.
Israel steps up its offensive against Hamas
Israel is getting ready to take its military operation against Hamas in the Gaza strip to the next level. It has stepped up the offensive and deployed more troops towards the Gaza border on Wednesday. Israel is making preparations to initiate a ground assault to compliment the deadly airstrikes.
International powers have tried to persuade Israel to agree to a truce but this request has been shunned in total at the moment. On the other hand Hamas has not given a positive response to the request of a cease fire.
Despite the international pressure the firing from both sides has intensified in the past couple of days. Yesterday Israel managed to bring down a mosque to rubble claiming it was one of the places that Hamas used to store rockets. On the flipside 60 rockets were fired into southern Israel from the Hamas militants.
The Israeli troops could be seen assembling their equipment and propping up their tanks just outside the Gaza border. An Israeli defense official spoke to the press saying that the military commanders will be moving forward in order to commence the ground operation.
Emergency consultations were sanctioned in by the U.N Security Council on Wednesday in order to discuss a legally binding and viable solution that could bring about a cease fire and a lasting truce in the region. The Arab League foreign ministers had held a meeting in Cairo and sent the Egyptian Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz to take part in the consultation.
The diplomatic efforts made by the U.S and other world powers to pressurize both the sides to back down have been of no avail. The 48 hour cease fire proposal made by the French in order to allow relief goods to reach the suffering people of Gaza has also been shunned. According to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this was not the right time to consider such a proposal.
Turkey and Egypt are two Muslim nations considered to be on good terms with Israel made their own proposals to Israel and Hamas but were not paid any attention.
Israel has little hope to eliminate Hamas from its roots using air strike only as the guerilla soldiers are in hiding and know how to move about in the streets. Therefore a ground offensive is being initiated as it seems to be the only way in which Israel can do some serious damage to Hamas.
Israel considering a 48 hour truce under international pressure
The bloody attacks on the Gaza strip conducted by Israel may be halted for a 48 hour period as international powers pressurize Israel to give the Palestinians a break. The four day air campaign that was launched in retaliation of the rocket attacks has been the deadliest military campaign pursued against the Palestinians in decades. 
The foreign minister of France proposed the 48 hour cease fire which has been taken under consideration by the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The Israeli government officials have gotten together to discuss the proposal along with other steps that can be taken to curb the current situation. The details of the discussions have not yet been made public.
Leaders of the Middle East have been called upon by the American President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in order to put forward for a long lasting solution to the problem starting from an immediate truce.
The Quartet of world powers also conducted a conference the outcome of which was the proposal of the 48 hour cease fire. The international powers that are exercising their pressure for a cease fire include the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.
Based on humanitarian grounds the European Union has urged Israel to reopen its borders with the Gaza strip in order to allow medical aid and food supplies to go through to the suffering Palestinians. The statement made by Paris has not focused on blaming a particular side for giving rise to the current problem at hand.
The Israeli government on the other hand has been conducting talks focusing on initiating a ground offensive. They plan to draw upon 2500 reserve soldiers in case they decide to launch the ground operation. A call up of 67000 soldiers was issued earlier this week.
A four hour meeting was conducted between the Israeli officials responsible for making the calls but no details of the meetings were made public as the issue at hand is very sensitive. It has however been released on the basis on anonymity that Israel wants a solid word from Hamas that it would put an end to the rocket attacks and then only would Israel agree to a truce. While the talks of a truce circulated amongst the conference tables Israeli airplanes continued their carpet bombing on the Gaza strip.
Hamas displays its firepower three days into the Israeli offensive
It has been three days since Israel has launched its military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip but the defiant militant group continues to send rockets flying into Israel. The continuing rocket firing into Israel shows that Hamas still has plenty of firepower at their disposal. 
The rockets managed to take the lives of four Israelis along with one soldier whereas the number of those injured was counted as eight. On the opposite side the Israeli attacks have managed to claim 364 Palestinian lives with sixty four of them being civilians.
On early Tuesday morning the Hamas government buildings were carpeted with sixteen bombs dropped by Israeli warplanes. The bombs managed to destroy the Gaza City complex completely setting it up in flames and reducing it to a pile of rubble. Forty people were injured during this attack.
A day before the focus of the Israeli attacks was the homes of Hamas field operatives. This attack was targeted at striking a blow at the very roots of Hamas. The defense minister of Israel has promised that the current attacks are going to be a “war to the bitter end against Hamas” and their allied militants.
Three days into the attack Hamas has kept its rocket attacks on going. In fact the most recent attacks have revealed that Hamas is in possession of some more powerful rockets that can hit targets further into Israel.
Monday night a missile managed to reach Ashdod which is at a distance of 23 miles from the Gaza strip. It managed to strike a bus stop resulting in the death of one woman and injuring others.
A mortar strike also managed to claim the live of an Israeli soldier. Five others have also been injured and one is said to be in a critical condition quite likely to lose his life.
Hamas has also revealed statements saying that it has fired more than 43 home-made rockets along with seventeen longer range grads and six mortar shells. Hamas is also being supported by allied militant groups that are using their own fire power against Israel.
In its reactionary offensive Israel is targeting the Hamas foundation. The different strikes made by Israeli warplanes have managed to successfully damage many of Hamas’s strategic buildings but at the same time there have been enormous civilian casualties.