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. 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. 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. "I said that we will exact a very heavy price from Hamas," Netanyahu wrote on Facebook, referring to the militant group. "We are doing so and will continue to do so with great force. The last word hasn't been said and this campaign will continue as long as necessary." The deaths and devastation from the fighting mounted on Thursday. More than 100 Palestinians and seven Israelis have been killed and hundreds of buildings across Gaza damaged or in ruins. An envoy from Egypt, which traditionally has been involved in ending Israel-Gaza violence, arrived to talk to both sides as part of a broader international effort to put an end to the conflict.

 

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.

 

"I said that we will exact a very heavy price from Hamas," Netanyahu wrote on Facebook, referring to the militant group. "We are doing so and will continue to do so with great force. The last word hasn't been said and this campaign will continue as long as necessary." 

 

The deaths and devastation from the fighting mounted on Thursday. More than 100 Palestinians and seven Israelis have been killed and hundreds of buildings across Gaza damaged or in ruins. An envoy from Egypt, which traditionally has been involved in ending Israel-Gaza violence, arrived to talk to both sides as part of a broader international effort to put an end to the conflict.