TEL AVIV? (RBC Radio) The head of the militant wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement and five others were killed as Israel launched a series of airstrikes in Gaza Wednesday, officials said.
Hamas spokesman Fauazy Brehom told NBC News that Ahmed Jabari was killed in the attack by Israeli forces.?Jabari was the most senior commander of Hamas? military wing, the Ezzidine Al-Qassam Brigades.?
A statement from the Al-Qassam Brigades said that Israel had ?opened the gates of hell.?
?If I were a senior Hamas activist ? I would look for a place to hide,? Israel Defense Forces spokesman Brgi. Gen. Yoav (Poly) Moredechai said in a statement published online.
Moredechai said the possibility of a ground invasion would not be ruled out, and emphasized that all options remain on the table. ?Infantry brigades have been shifted in preparation for the operation,? his statement read. ?All options that allow us to cause seriously damage to Hamas and the other terrorist organizations are on the table.?
Jabari is the most senior Hamas official to have died due to Israeli military action since the killing of Saeed Seyam four years ago.
Sources at the?Kamal Adwan and Al-Shifa hospitals?said a total of six people had been killed and 30 injured.
A statement on the IDF website said that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz had ?approved an expansive strike against terrorist organizations in Gaza.?
?As a part of the program, a short while ago, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck Ahmed al-Jabari and other senior officers of Hamas? Military Wing, who were involved in planning and implementing dozens of attacks, including the kidnapping of SFC [Israeli soldier] Gilad Shalit,? it said.
The airstrike took place in central Gaza, according to the statement, which was headlined ?Chief of Hamas? Military Wing Ahmed al-Jabari assassinated.? The headline was later changed to ?Senior Hamas operative targeted,? and the statement dropped the reference to Shalit.
The statement quoted IDF spokesman Mordechai as saying military action began following the ?intolerable situation in the south of the country, and seeks to harm terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip.?
?Forward base for Iran?
The IDF later announced it had begun ?Operation Pillar of Defense.??Israel confirmed there had been several airstrikes.
In another update, the statement said the IDF had ?targeted a significant number of long range rockets sites ? owned by Hamas. This deals a significant blow to the terror organizations? underground rocket launching capabilities and munitions warehouses that are owned by Hamas and other terror organizations.?
?The Gaza strip, has turned it into a forward base for Iran, firing rockets and carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens.?The IDF will continue to target terrorist sites that are used to carry out terror attacks against Israeli citizens,? it said.
?The IDF will continue to target sites that are used for carrying out terror attacks against the citizens of Israel while improving their daily security,? it added.
An IDF statement Monday said more than 120 rockets fired from Gaza had hit Israel since Saturday and that the Israeli air force had responded with airstrikes on a number of sites.?
Source:http://worldnews.nbcnews.com
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