Israel targets Gaza tunnels as violence flares up; death toll at 129

Palestine fires more rockets; clash fuels communal fighting on streets

Israel’s forces fired artillery into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Friday and kept up a blistering five-day air assault that has so far failed to quell militant rocket attacks, sweeping aside international appeals for de-escalation.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that an extended campaign was in the offing. The decision to attack with heavy aircraft, tank and artillery fire came at a uniquely sensitive time, though, as Israel grapples with the worst outbreak in years of violence between Arabs and Jews inside its borders.

 

The death toll and devastation from the fighting mounted. At least 120 Palestinians, including children, and nine Israelis have died, with hundreds of buildings damaged or in ruins. An envoy from Egypt, which traditionally has been involved in ending Israel-Gaza violence, arrived to talk to both sides as part of a broader international peace effort.

 

“I said that we will exact a very heavy price from Hamas,” Netanyahu wrote on Facebook. “We are doing so and will continue to do so with great force. The last word hasn’t been said and this campaign will continue as long as necessary.”

 

Underground tunnels

 

Israel struck over 150 targets in the northern Gaza Strip overnight to destroy kilometers of underground tunnels dug by Hamas, the military said. The barrage was intended to send a message that Israel will deal with the supposedly secretive infrastructure, but not necessarily a sign that an invasion is imminent, said Ram Yavne, a retired general in Israel’s army.

 

“Israel’s considerations to invade or not are much broader than the tunnels,” Yavne said. “Most signs point in the opposite direction because neither the public nor the politicians want a ground war.”

 

Authorizations have been granted for the call up of 9,000 more reservists as Israel considers scenarios including a possible incursion by troops. The army said that no soldiers had been sent into Gaza. Three rockets launched from Lebanon crashed into the Mediterranean off Israel’s northern coast late Thursday, raising the specter of a second battleground with Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militants.