Israeli Warplanes Pound Gaza: 22 Killed, Including Four Children

Israeli DM Vows to Continue Killing 'Hamas Terrorists'

Rockets fired out of the Gaza Strip in significant numbers, while Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes across the tiny enclave today, and a war halted about a week by ceasefires seems to be picking up once more.

At least 22 Palestinians were reported killed in the Israeli attacks, including four children. Among the slain were the wife and infant child of a Hamas commander, though the commander himself was not at the site of the attack.

The death toll stands at 2,029 Palestinians killed, overwhelmingly civilians and roughly a quarter of them children. The Israeli toll remains 67 killed, 64 of them soldiers.

The latest Israeli salvos have Hamas threatening a new round of strikes on Ben-Gurion Airport, warning international airlines to divert flights. Hamas rockets are not generally accurate enough to actually hit the airport, let alone strong enough to significantly damage it.

Hamas also fired rockets at the Nao offshore gas platform, one of the Israeli platforms nearest to the strip. The rockets, as usual, missed the target, and no damage to anything was reported.

Israel defended today’s attacks, and insisted all their targets were valid. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon vowed to continue killing “Hamas terrorists.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.