Rockets Target Jerusalem

Israel triggered the current fighting by assassinating the military chief of the ruling Hamas militant group on Wednesday, then conducting dozens of airstrikes on weapons-storage sites used by rocket squads. The sudden attack came in response to days of heavy rocket fire from Gaza. 


Israeli leaders have threatened to widen the operation if the rocket fire doesn't halt. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said options included the possible assassination of Hamas' prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, and other top leaders.


"Every time that Hamas fires there will be a more and more severe response," he told Channel 2 TV. "I really recommend all the Hamas leadership in Gaza not to try us again. ... Nobody is immune there, not Haniyeh and not anybody else."

While Israeli military officials insist they have inflicted heavy damage on Hamas, there has been no halt to the militants' rocket fire. Hundreds of rockets have been fired, including a number of sophisticated weapons never before used.

The rocket attack on Jerusalem was unprecedented, setting off the eerie wail of air raid sirens across the city shortly after the beginning of the Jewish sabbath, a time when roads are empty. Police said the rocket landed in an open area southeast of the city. Earlier Friday, Hamas fired a rocket at Tel Aviv that also landed in an open area.


Israel's two largest cities have never before been exposed to rocket fire from Hamas-ruled Gaza.

CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey and his team -- along with other news crews -- were forced by the Israeli military to move away from the border of the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, another signal pointing to a possible ground incursion into the tiny Palestinian territory.

Pizzey reports that as dawn broke in the Israeli town of Sderot, on the Gaza border, the extent of the force massed along the frontier made it clear Israel was preparing for a ground fight -- 16,000 Israeli reservists were called up on Thursday. The last invasion was four years ago, and analysts say Hamas will be better prepared this time.


Over the past three days, Israel has struck suspected rocket-launching sites and other Hamas targets in Gaza with scores of airstrikes, while Hamas has fired more than 450 rockets toward Israel. In all, 27 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed.

In Israel, Pizzey reported, a funeral Friday was interrupted by a warning siren that another missile was on its way. There is a growing fear that Hamas has vastly improved its arsenal.

On Friday, the Israeli army sent text messages to some 12,000 Gaza residents warning them to steer clear of Hamas operatives.

An attack on Jerusalem, claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians as their capital, was especially bold, both for its symbolism and its distance from the Palestinian territory. Located roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Gaza border, Jerusalem had been thought to be beyond the range of Gaza rockets.


"We are sending a short and simple message: There is no security for any Zionist on any single inch of Palestine and we plan more surprises," said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' armed wing.

It marked a bit of a gamble for the militants. The rocket landed near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem and just a few miles from the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, one of Islam's holiest sites.

Hamas, an Iranian-backed group committed to Israel's destruction, was badly bruised during its last full fledged confrontation with Israel four years ago that ended with an informal truce, although rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes on militant operations continued sporadically.