DUSHANBE, November 17, 2012, Asia-Plus — Israel has targeted the headquarters of Hamas leaders and other key facilities in Gaza, on the fourth day of Israeli air strikes in the territory, international media sources reported on Saturday.
According to the BBC, Prime Minister Ismail Haniya”s office, which Egypt”s PM had visited on November 16, was among the buildings destroyed.
At least 38 Palestinians and three Israelis have died since Israel killed Hamas”s military chief on November 14.
Israel earlier put 75,000 reservists on stand-by amid speculation of an impending ground invasion.
Militants in Gaza have continued to fire rockets into Israel, after aiming at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Friday.
Following a lull, Gaza City was hit by a string of large explosions shortly after 03:00 am of local time on Saturday (November 17).
There was another series of strikes in and around the city after 05:00 am, with several targeting Hamas”s cabinet buildings, which correspondents say were likely to have been empty. One of the targets was the house of a Hamas leader in Jabaliya, north of Gaza City.
At least eight Palestinians are reported to have been killed in Saturday early morning strikes. The dead are said to include three members of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas”s military wing.
Israel issued a statement saying it was targeting rocket-launching squads and weapons storage facilities and smuggling tunnels on the border with Egypt in southern Gaza.
There are rumors that a ground attack is imminent, but Israeli officials say no decision has been made. Israel blocked access to three major routes leading into Gaza on November 16. Call-up papers have already been sent to 16,000 Israeli reservists, with officials authorizing the mobilization of another 75,000, the BBC reported.
Militants and civilians, including at least seven children, have been among the Palestinians killed during Israeli strikes in recent days, Hamas says.
The group”s military leader Ahmed Jabari was killed on November 14. A senior commander was killed on November 16, officials said.
Two Israeli women and a man died when a rocket hit a building in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi on November 15.
Before the offensive – codenamed Pillar of Defence – Israel had repeatedly carried out air strikes on Gaza, as Palestinian militants fired rockets across the border.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Israel of carrying out “massacres.”
Western leaders and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have appealed for both sides to stop the violence.
