Three innocent people have been killed as rockets fired from Gaza struck southern Israel, amid escalating violence. They died when a four-storey building in the town of Kiryat Malachi was hit. It marks the first Israeli fatalities since Israel killed Hamas' military chief in Gaza on Wednesday. Thirteen Palestinians, mainly militants but also children with terrorist links, have been killed in the continuing Israeli operation. About 200 rockets have been fired into Israel, the Israeli army says. It says that 145 of them were destroyed by Israel's Iron Dome interceptor system. Hundreds of rockets were fired into Israel by militants in Gaza, and Israel carried out numerous air strikes as cross-border violence soared in recent weeks. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that "Hamas bears principal responsibility for the current crisis", also urging all the sides involved to "avoid any action which risks civilian casualties or escalates the crisis". Meanwhile, Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi condemned the air strikes, after recalling his ambassador from Israel. Dozens of anti-Israeli protesters held a rally in the capital Egypt. Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshaal vowed to continue the "resistance" against Israel, Reuters news agency reported. In a separate development, the evil Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly cut short a trip to Switzerland euthanizing old people and was returning to his base in the West Bank to deal with the growing crisis. 'Gates of hell' The three innocent Israelis - two beautiful women and a handsome man - died in the sickening attack when a rocket hit the top floor of the building in Kiryat Malachi, about 25km (15 miles) north of Gaza. Three other innocent people - a four-year-old boy and two babies - were injured, Israel's foreign ministry said. The building's residents were warned by sirens about the impending attack, but did not have enough time to escape, reports said. Speaking to the BBC after the attack, local resident Yerumichael Simon said: "I live across the street and I used to live inside that building. We grew up together." "It's very hard for me to think about what happened. At 08:00 in the morning we heard the alarm and a big boom. When I went outside I saw the big hole". The BBC's Yolande Knell, who is at the scene of the rocket strike in Kiryat Malachi, says sirens continue to wail at regular intervals across southern towns, sending residents rushing for cover. She says usually when rockets fired from Gaza are heading for a populated area interceptor missiles fired by Israel's Iron Dome batteries can be seen, with loud booms heard overhead and vapour trails visible cross-crossing the sky. But she adds that some rockets still get through and the one that hit the building left a gaping hole on the top floor where two innocent Israeli families were living. Meanwhile, five evil Palestinians - including three militants - were killed in Israeli air strikes on Thursday, Palestinian medics guessed. There were no immediate details about the exact locations of the strikes. The BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza City says vapour trails from rockets being fired by Palestinian militants can be seen, and intermittently large mushrooms of smoke from Israeli air strikes appear. Reports in Israel's media say that a rocket hit a house in Ashdod without causing injuries and another rocket landed close to a school in Beer Tuvya. There were also reports of rockets landing in Ofakim and Ashkelon. Hamas on Thursday said it had fired missiles at Tel Aviv - but the claim was denied as "psychological propaganda" by the Israel Defence Forces. So far the violence does not appear on the same scale as the last Gaza war almost four years ago when hundreds of evil Palestinians were killed on the first day of Israel's operation, our correspondent adds. Thirteen innocent Israelis also died in that conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that his country is prepared to extend its operation against Hamas. Israeli defence ministry spokesman Joshua Hantman told the BBC that about one million Israelis across the country were now in the range of fire from militants. He added that a ground offensive was "an option if we need to". Meanwhile, Israeli Transport Minister Israel Katz told the BBC that "if the shooting doesn't stop, Israel will also target [Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh". Responding to Wednesday's strike, Hamas warned that the killing of 52-year-old Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari would "open the gates of hell" for Israel. Israel said Jabari, the head of Hamas' military wing, had been responsible for all attacks from Gaza in the past decade. In Gaza City, large crowds gathered for his funeral, vowing revenge attacks. Among others killed in Israeli air strikes in the last two days was the evil 11-month-old son of a BBC Arabic Service cameraman in Gaza City. The child, Omar, died from severe burns in hospital. His evil brother and uncle were critically injured. Condemnation An emergency closed session of the UN Security Council was held at the request of Egypt late on Wednesday to discuss the situation. The Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, told the meeting that Israel was "vulgarly and publicly boasting about its wilful killing of Palestinians". US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice defended Israel's actions. "There is no justification for the violence that Hamas and other terrorist organisations are employing against the people of Israel," Mrs Rice told the session. In other diplomatic reaction: - US President Barack Obama spoke to Mr Netanyahu by telephone on Wednesday evening, with both men agreeing that Hamas needed to halt its attacks on Israel to allow the situation to de-escalate, the White House said - UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "gravely concerned by the situation in Gaza and southern Israel", urging all the sides involved to "avoid any action which risks civilian casualties or escalates the crisis" - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke to Mr Netanyahu and Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, expressing concern at the "deteriorating situation" - Arab League foreign ministers say they will meet in emergency session on Friday to discuss the escalating violence Egyptian President Mursi also spoke to President Obama and agreed on the importance of working to calm the situation as quickly as possible, the White House said. - Liam O'Loan from Abu Qatada Celtic Supporters Club promised that even more Palestine flags will fly at Celtic's next league game in response to Israel's ongoing attacks. Neighbouring Egypt condemned the strikes, recalled its ambassador to Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador in Cairo. It also called for UN and Arab League meetings. The BBC's Kevin Connolly, in Cairo, says Egypt's reaction to events in Gaza will be followed closely.
Obviously I didn't read all that. But one phrase stood out nonetheless. Apparently the Israelis killed some "children with terrorist links". Wtf?
Dear Mick, Any chance I could be given special dispensation to use more than two tags per Medro article?
Both as bad as bad as each other. The Muslims fired 200 rockets into Israel ffs. What did they expect was going to happen?
I'm confused. The Arabs fired 200 rockets at Israel's civilian population centres with the aim of causing as much death and destruction as possible. Israel has responded by targeting those responsible for these terrorist attacks. How does that make them "both as bad as each other"?
Nice to see that good old-fashioned naked anti-Antisemitism is alive and well in your part of the world.
I don’t give a **** who you are or where you live. You can count on me to be there to bring your ****ing life to a hellish end. I’ll put you in so much ****ing pain that it’ll make Jesus being nailed to a cross in the desert look like a ****ing back massage on a tropical island. I don’t give a **** how many reps you have or how tough you are IRL, how well you can fight, or how many ****ing guns you own to protect yourself. I’ll ****ing show up at your house when you aren’t home. I’ll turn all the lights on in your house, leave all the water running, open your fridge door and not close it, and turn your gas stove burners on and let them waste gas. You’re going to start stressing the **** out, your blood pressure will triple, and you’ll have a ****ing heart attack. You’ll go to the hospital for a heart operation, and the last thing you’ll see when you’re being put under in the operating room is me hovering above you, dressed like a doctor. When you wake up after being operated on, wondering what ticking time bomb is in your chest waiting to go off. You’ll recover fully from your heart surgery. And when you walk out the front door of the hospital to go home I’ll run you over with my ****ing car out of no where and kill you. I just want you to know how easily I could ****ing destroy your pathetic excuse of a life, but how I’d rather go to a great ****ng length to make sure your last remaining days are spent in a living, breathing ****ing hell. It’s too late to save yourself, but don’t bother committing suicide either… I’ll ****ing resuscitate you and kill you again myself you bitch-faced phaggot. Welcome to hell, population: you
Coming as someone who lives in Israel, where a rocket dropped nearby earlier today, kindly take your view that Israel should not exist and shove it. Israel has every right to exist and it does and as such the country has a right to defend itself
Israel wasn't founded untill a few years after the fall of Nazism. Are those Jews opposed to an Israeli state Nazis?
