Posted on 12/27/2008 10:43:16 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes and helicopters pounded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing at least 205 people in the bloodiest one-day death toll in 60 years of conflict with the Palestinians.
Militants in the Gaza Strip, who have launched dozens of rocket attacks against Israel since a truce expired just over a week ago, fired more salvoes that killed one Israeli man and wounded several others.
Both sides said they were ready to stage wider assaults, threatening to plunge the region into a crisis that could leave stalled talks over Palestinian statehood in tatters.
Black smoke billowed over Gaza City, where the dead and wounded lay scattered on the ground after Israel bombed more than 40 security compounds, including two where Hamas was hosting graduation ceremonies for new recruits.
At the main Gaza City graduation ceremony, uniformed bodies lay in a pile and the wounded writhed in pain. Some rescue workers beat their heads and shouted "God is greatest." One badly wounded man quietly recited verses from the Koran.
More than 700 Palestinians were wounded in all, medics said.
Israel said the operation, dubbed "Solid Lead," targeted "terrorist infrastructure" following days of rocket attacks on southern Israel that caused damage but few injuries. An army spokeswoman said Hamas leaders could be targeted.
"There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said.
The rocket attacks increased pressure on Israeli political leaders to act as a February 10 election approaches.
The army did not set a timeframe but the mayor of Ashkelon, an Israeli city in range of Hamas's rockets, said military planners saw the operation lasting "more than a week."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Well we didn’t quite make it to the new year.
205 ????
Better step it up, IAF. 205,000 would be a better number.
So that’s 205 would be terrorists/suicide bombers or their supporters that have been taken off the market.
Who's this "we?"
I'm still breathing!
2009, here we come! :-D
I don’t think that there is a bag limit on jihad varmints..
'Iran Red Crescent vessel heads to Gaza'
******************************EXCERPT INTRO************************
An Iranian Red Crescent vessel laden with humanitarian supplies is due to set sail for the Gaza Strip on Saturday, AFP reported, quoting the Islamic Republic's state broadcaster.
Looks like Obama’s first test.
First reports
100 dead, then
120 dead, then
195 dead, then
205 dead.
Are they still digging up bodies to show the press?
Sorry, no pity from me - poke a bear often enuf and the bear will smak you a good one. You would have thought that the last 10 or 20 times would have been lesson anuf.
islamic humanitarian aid
Thinking of this action and the potential action between India and Pakistan....
Palestine is a joke...a dangerous one that needs to be removed.....totally.
Guess it’s time to get a couple kids out of the freezer to parade around as victim’s of Israeli aggresion,better than them getting to volunteer as martyrs.
Muslim cowards hide behind women and children and use them as suicide bombers.
Film at 11.
I think they need to try for rounding numbers divisible by 1000......
A radical resection is indicated..
Don't they know that retaliation is against international law?? /sarc
I told you all, this is the way the media works, when Israel defends itself, they are called “murderers” and
“occupiers” this is nothing new, they are taking care of business now before Obama comes in because once he does, forget about it, he will end all support to Israel
has the big Zero made a statement yet?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.