> Iron Dome intercepts two rockets over Tel Aviv
> By
JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN
> LAST UPDATED: 11/18/2012 18:52
> Interception follows two rockets fired earlier in the day; airforce
> strike targets head of Hamas's rocket program, Yahiya Abiya;
> Palestinian sources say strike kills 11 civilians, raising death toll
> to at least 60, hundreds wounded.
> Iron Dome intercepts Grad rocket near Beersheba Photo: REUTERS/Baz
> Ratner
> The Iron Dome intercepted two long-range rockets fired at Tel Aviv on
> Sunday evening. No injuries or damage was reported, police say. This
> is following two rockets intercepted over Gush Dan on Sunday morning.
>
> On Sunday afternoon, the IDF assassinated the head of Hamas's rocket
> program, Yahiya Abiya in an airstrike. The assassination was directly
> ordered by Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz.
>
> Army sources say that Byya was directly responsible for the majority
> of rockets that have been fired on Israel.
>
> An IDF spokesman said that during the day Sunday the IDF attacked over
> fifty terrorist targets, including rocket launching infrastructure and
> smuggling tunnels.
>
> The IDF confirmed communications infrastructure in the northern Gaza
> Strip used by the Hamas terrorist organization was also attacked.
>
> According to Palestinian sources, the strike which hit Byya also
> killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, the
> highest death toll in a single incident in five days of fighting. The
> casualties included six children and four women in the attack on a
> three-story building, medics say. The house reportedly belonged to a
> Hamas official.
>
> Shortly after, another strike on a vehicle killed two in Jabaliya on
> Sunday, according to Ma'an.
>
> Ma'an also reported that the number of Palestinian casualties rose to
> at least 60 on Sunday, with hundreds wounded.
>
> Rescue workers were still at the site searching for people who might
> be buried under the rubble.
>
> The airforce has taken every measure possible to try and avoid harming
> Palestinian non-combatants, including precision strikes and issuing
> warnings to civilians. Hamas often employs the tactics of using
> civilians as human shields.
>
> Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that he had assured
> world leaders that Israel was doing its utmost to avoid causing
> civilian casualties in the military showdown with Hamas.
>
> On Sunday morning, the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings were opened to
> allow the passage of goods and humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
>
> Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired dozens of rockets toward a number
> of Israeli cities Sunday, striking among others, Beersheba, Ashdod,
> Ashkelon and Sderot. At least ten civilians were injured.
>
> At a cabinet meeting Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said
> Israel had launched over 1,000 military strikes in the Strip since the
> beginning of the operation Wednesday.
>
> Since the start of the operation on Wednesday, over 520 Palestinian
> rockets exploded in Israeli territory. A small percentage of those
> exploded in urban areas.
>
> The Israeli Navy bombarded targets from the sea and an air raid
> targeted a building in Gaza City overnight Saturday housing media
> agencies and television stations, wounding six journalists from Iran's
> PressTV and al-Quds television, a station Israel sees as pro-Hamas,
> witnesses said.
>
> IDF Spokeswoman Avital Leibovich on Sunday briefed foreign press about
> the media building strike, saying "we obviously know there are
> journalists in the building, so we did not attack any other floor,"
> according to an audio recording of the briefing.
>
> The IDF said it was targeting a "transmission antenna used by Hamas to
> carry out terror activity." Britain's Sky News and Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV
> were damaged in the attack. Journalists from Al-Aqsa TV and Iran's
> PressTV were injured.
>
> Leibovich added that her advice to journalists in Hamas-administered
> Gaza, is to "stay away from any Hamas positions, Hamas sites, or Hamas
> posts for their own safety."
>
> Two other predawn attacks on houses in the Jebalya refugee camp killed
> two and wounded 12 other people, medical officials said. According to
> the Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency, the IAF also struck several
> targets connected to the Popular Resistance Committees and Hamas's
> military wing.
>
> Click for full JPost coverage
>
> Medics report 539 people have been injured in Gaza since Wednesday,
> according to Ma'an.
>
> More than 500 of the approximately 900 rockets fired from Gaza have
> hit Israel, killing three people and injuring dozens.
>
> Israel unleashed its massive air campaign on Wednesday, killing Hamas
> military chief Ahmed Jabari with the declared goal of deterring gunmen
> in the coastal enclave from launching rockets that have plagued its
> southern communities for years.
>
> The IDF has since launched more than 1,000 air strikes on the coastal
> Palestinian territory, targeting weaponry and flattening terrorists'
> homes and headquarters.
>
> Reuters contributed to this report.
Hades
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another religious myth to ignore