Israeli-Gaza Conflict Continues
November 19, 2012
At least 95 Palestinians and 3 Israelis have been killed in six days of attack and counterattack between Israel and Gaza. The latest casualty is a Hamas military commander, who was killed today in a strike on a building housing media workers. According to Israeli Defense Forces, air strikes have been carried out on some 80 strategic sites in Gaza in the last 12 hours, bringing the total to 1,350 strikes on targeted sites since the violence began on November 14.
Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas, the Islamist organization that controls Gaza, has issued a statement that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has requested a cease-fire. But Merhaal contended that it is up to Israel to stop the offensive, which he claims Israel started. The Netanyahu government denies asking for a cease-fire and denies starting the violence. There is little doubt that the conflict was ignited from Gaza. Hamas and various other terrorist groups have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel just this year before Israel counter attacked.
Palestinian Hamas supporters celebrate in the Gaza Strip after Hamas, a radical Islamic organization and political party, wins a majority of seats in the 2006 Palestinian Authority legislative elections. Many of the supporters wear green, the color of Hamas and the traditional color of Islam. (© Mohammed Abed, AFP/Getty Images)
Israel has some 30,000 troops massed at the border. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has declared that there will be “serious repercussions” if Israel were to launch a ground invasion into Gaza. Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an offshoot.
Additional World Book articles:
- Egypt 2011 (a Back in Time article)
- The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
- A Special Day in Israel (a special report)
