Hamas Pounds Southern Israel With 50 Mortars...Israel Retaliates With Warplanes and Tanks

I guess it is official - the islamic terrorists of Palestine have taken the next step in their plans of jihad after the slaughter of the Israeli family of five in the West Bank by firing relentless mortar rounds into southern Israeli villages today. At the latest count, eight have been injured as the Israelis have responded with warplane and tank attacks on Hamas targets.

From the article at Monsters and Critics:

Violence between Israel and militants of the Islamist Hamas movement flared on Saturday after nearly 50 mortar shells from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israeli communities.

Israeli warplanes and tanks responded, firing missiles and tank shells at four targets belonging to Hamas in the eastern Gaza Strip, Adham Abu Selmeya, Gaza's emergency chief, told reporters.

Selmeya confirmed that six Palestinian were wounded in the Israeli attack, while Israel Radio reported two Israelis injured. The two main Israelis towns hit in the attack were Sdot Negev and Eshkol.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, claimed responsibility for the renewed shelling.

'Targeting the enemy's posts was a response to the ongoing Zionist assaults, airstrikes and tank's shelling on the Gaza Strip. The latest was two days ago, where two of our mujahidin were killed,' said the group.

So, here is my question (and it's an important one) - is this the beginning of the offensive against Israel that will bring Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran into the fray? I am here to say that 2011 will not end without another war involving the Israelis and I do not believe it will be against one enemy - I truly think this is the year that a multi-sided attack on Israel occurs. One of the reasons I think this way is that the islamists in the Middle East and in Iran feel they can get away with this because America will sit on its hands with Obama at the helm.

So the real question is...will Hamas and the others continue with more mortars later today and then some rockets the next and will Hezbollah then begin an offensive on the north?

I'll be watching Israel close this weekend - I have a real bad feeling.

50 rockets launched from Gaza into Israel, eight wounded


Gaza City - Violence between Israel and militants of the Islamist Hamas movement flared on Saturday after nearly 50 mortar shells from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israeli communities.

Israeli warplanes and tanks responded, firing missiles and tank shells at four targets belonging to Hamas in the eastern Gaza Strip, Adham Abu Selmeya, Gaza's emergency chief, told reporters.

Selmeya confirmed that six Palestinian were wounded in the Israeli attack, while Israel Radio reported two Israelis injured. The two main Israelis towns hit in the attack were Sdot Negev and Eshkol.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, claimed responsibility for the renewed shelling.

'Targeting the enemy's posts was a response to the ongoing Zionist assaults, airstrikes and tank's shelling on the Gaza Strip. The latest was two days ago, where two of our mujahidin were killed,' said the group.

Israeli jets struck four lookout posts belonging to the security forces of the Hamas administration, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since June 2007. Residents in the Strip heard dozens of explosions resulting from the Israeli bombardment.

Several ambulances and rescue teams were seen rushing to the targeted areas between the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman reacted immediately, asking the Israeli envoy to the UN to file an official complaint to the Security Council.

'The offensive this morning, which took place while Hamas is speaking about reunification, shows that the international support for the creation of a Palestinian state would be support for the creation of a terror state,' Lieberman said in a written message to the UN.

The 'first and foremost goal is the destruction of Israel,' Lieberman wrote in his request to file a complaint.

Ten other mortar shells were launched from Gaza into Israel on Friday, four of them landed in Palestinian territories.

An undeclared fragile ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas in January 2009, following a three-week large-scale Israeli offensive on the enclave, in which more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.

The escalation of violence mounted as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced two days ago that he intends to go to Gaza to end more than three years of internal division between his Fatah party and Hamas movement.