Gaza cease-fire collapses, Egypt PM backs Palestinians as Israel drafts 16,000 reservists http://pulse.me/s/foHML
NBC News World News Gaza cease-fire collapses, Egypt PM backs Palestinians as Israel drafts 16,000 reservists
For a second straight night, Israeli forces attacked the Gaza Strip, claiming to hit around 150 suspected rocket and ammunition warehouses. Meanwhile, Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.
By NBC News and wire reports
Updated at 10:27 a.m. ET: Israel started drafting 16,000 reserve troops on Friday as Egypt’s prime minister visited the Gaza Strip to show support for Palestinians amid a cross-border conflict with Hamas militants that risks spiraling into an all-out war.
But even as Prime Minister Hesham Kandil made a three-hour visit in the coastal enclave, a temporary cease-fire declared by Israel at Egypt’s request collapsed after both sides accused the other of violating it.
Later Friday, air raid sirens cried out in Israel’s two largest cities, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as residents moved into underground shelters, NBC reporters on the scene said.
At least one rocket fired from Gaza toward Jerusalem landed outside the city, Israeli media reported. There were no injuries or damage.
Earlier, at least one rocket fired toward coastal Tel Aviv fell into the sea. "The rocket landed off the shores of Tel Aviv," a police spokesman told Reuters.
Ronen Zvulun / Reuters
Israeli soldiers prepare armored personnel carriers near the border with the Gaza Strip on Friday.
Hamas' military wing also claimed it had struck a building in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon, NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reported. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the military intercepted four rockets over Ashkelon, but that one exploded in an open area.
It was the second straight day that Gaza militants have targeted Tel Aviv. The attacks, which Israel considers to be a major escalation, could draw an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza closer.
Israeli troops have massed near the Palestinian territory and witnesses said they could see Israeli ships off Gaza's coast, Mohyeldin reported. Israel's army would be heavily dependent on reservists to fight any prolonged war. The military has received a green light to call in up to 30,000 reserve troops.
It was unclear Friday whether Israel’s move to call up reservists presaged a ground invasion or was intended more as an intimidation tactic to pressure Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he was prepared to “take whatever action is necessary,” but Israel has also expressed strong desire to preserve its peace with the new Egyptian leadership. Israel’s announcement that it would hold fire during Kandil’s visit appeared to show its commitment to the treaty.
Overnight, the military said it targeted about 150 of the sites Gaza gunmen use to fire rockets at Israel, as well as ammunition warehouses, bringing to 450 the number of sites struck since the operation began Wednesday.
Hamas chief killed
The latest upsurge in the long-running conflict came Wednesday when Israel killed Hamas' military mastermind, Ahmed Jabari, in a precision airstrike on his car. Israel then began shelling Gaza from land, air and sea.
The latest upsurge in the long-running conflict came Wednesday when Israel killed Hamas' military mastermind, Ahmed Jabari, in a precision airstrike on his car. Israel then began shelling Gaza from land, air and sea.
Israeli warplanes have attacked more targets in Gaza City, as the military showdown with Hamas continued to escalate and casualties on both sides mount. NBC's John Ray reports.
At least 19 Palestinians, including seven militants and 12 civilians, among them six children and a pregnant woman, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. A Hamas rocket killed three Israelis in the town of Kiryat Malachi on Thursday.
Israel says its offensive responded to increasing missile salvos from Gaza. Its bombing has not yet reached the saturation level seen before it last invaded Gaza in 2008, but Israeli officials have said a ground assault remains possible.
“We are going to continue hitting Hamas hard and we will continue to strike hard at the missiles targeted at Central and South Israel," Netanyahu wrote Friday on Twitter.
At least 12 trucks were seen transporting tanks and armored personnel carriers toward Gaza late Thursday, and buses carrying soldiers headed toward the border area, according to The Associated Press.
NBC News correspondent Martin Fletcher described Israel's call-up of reservists as "extremely significant."
An Israeli ground offensive could be costly to both sides. In the last Gaza war, Israel devastated parts of the territory, setting back Hamas' fighting capabilities but also paying the price of increasing diplomatic isolation because of a civilian death toll numbering in the hundreds.
Kandil crossed into Gaza before midday through the only border post with Egypt, heavily guarded by Egyptian security personnel wearing flak jackets and carrying assault rifles, The Associated Press reported.
Adel Hana / AP
Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, left, and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh wave to onlookers in Gaza City on Friday.
He was greeted by Gaza's Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, who ventured out in public for the first time since Israel launched the offensive Wednesday by assassinating the militant group's military commander.
"Egypt will spare no effort ... to stop the aggression and to achieve a truce," Kandil said later.
"Palestine is the heart of the Arab and Muslim world and the body is not healthy while the heart is sick," he added.
Kandil held the bloodied body of a child at a hospital before leaving the Gaza Strip.
More than 200 missiles were fired at Israel Thursday; Israel, in turn, launched about 200 missiles against Palestinian targets. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports.1:21 PM - 16 Nov 12 · Details
