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Israelis begin attacks from sea too

DUBAI: Israeli aircraft have continued to pound buildings and homes for the fourth successive day amid preparations for a ground offensive against Gaza. Israeli missiles demolished five Ministerial buildings, affiliated to the Palestinian group Hamas. A structure in the Islamic University in Gaza City was also attacked. Israeli aircraft targeted the home of a Hamas activist in the Jabaliya refugee camp, killing seven people.

In another possible assassination attempt, home of a Hamas political figure Adel-Karim Jaber, a senior administrator at the Islamic University, was also attacked. The Israelis killed a senior commander of Islamic Jihad, a militant group close to Hamas during an air strike. Israeli aircraft have hit 325 sites in Gaza since Saturday. Dozens of buildings have been flattened. Hospitals in Gaza have been overwhelmed and smoke and fire can be seen rising from several locations along the deserted streets.

Nearly 385 people have been killed and 1,800 injured in these attacks so far. The Israelis on Tuesday also began attacks from the sea, using naval warships for bombardment. Nearly 11 naval vessels surrounded the boat Dignity which was on a humanitarian mission to Gaza from Cyprus. An Israeli vessel rammed into the boat, which later docked at the Lebanese port of Tyre after sustaining some damage. Thousands of Israeli troops with heavy equipment have amassed on Israel’s border with Gaza, in preparation for a possible ground assault.

Palestinians in Gaza continued to fire rockets into Israel. One of them reached close to the town of Rahat — the longest distance that a rocket launched from Gaza has reached into Israel so far. A rocket fired on Monday killed a woman in Ashdod, which had not been hit before the conflict began.

There has been no let up in street protests in West Asia in support of the Gaza victims. In Yemen, protesters on Tuesday stormed the Egyptian consulate in Aden as anger over perceived Arab inaction to the air strikes continued to simmer. Egypt as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have been widely criticised in the region for finding fault with Hamas for triggering the Gaza carnage.

Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday urged Arabs and Muslims to begin “uprisings” in support of Gaza.

On Sunday he said: “It is not true that there is Arab silence; there is real and complete partnership in this particularly the sides that signed agreements with Israel.”

Jordan and Egypt have signed peace treaties with Israel. There has been an outpouring of demonstrations in several countries in West Asia including Syria, Yemen, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan.

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