Israeli Tanks, Artillery Join Jets In Offensive Against Hamas

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been warning that an extended campaign was in the offing.

Israeli air and ground troops launched a blistering assault on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, sweeping aside international appeals for de-escalation after four days of aerial bombardments failed to quell the heaviest militant rocket fire yet on Israel from the Palestinian enclave. IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been warning that an extended campaign was in the offing. The decision to escalate early Friday with heavy aircraft, tank and artillery fire came at a uniquely sensitive time, as Israel grappled with the worst outbreak in years of violence between Arabs and Jews inside its borders. Trouble loomed on another front after three rockets launched from Lebanon crashed into the Mediterranean off Israel's northern coast late Wednesday, raising the specter of a second battleground with Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militants.