The escalating fighting between Israel and Hamas peaked yesterday with a direct hit by a long-range rocket on a home in the port city of Ashkelon and the killing of at least 18 Palestinians in air strikes. These included five boys and a six-month-old baby.
Israeli military analysts say that as Ashkelon becomes a permanent target of Hamas missile attacks, an Israeli ground offensive is becoming inevitable and likely to occur sooner rather than later.
After a dense barrage of rockets yesterday, fired by Hamas militants against Sderot, and the recent killing of a man at Sapir College, the Israel Defense Forces intensified its air attacks against Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip. Hamas sources claimed to have fired 82 rockets since Wednesday, 51 of them at Sderot. Also yesterday, a much-anticipated IDF ground offensive seemed to move one step closer with Defense Minister Ehud Barak declaring that such an operation "was a real likelihood."
Early yesterday evening, a Katyusha-type rocket struck a building in Ashkelon, crashing through the roof of an apartment building and slicing through three floors. No casualties were reported.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959368.html