PEOPLE AND PLACES: APOCALYPSE NOW: WWIII TRIPWIRE

APOCALYPSE NOW: WWIII TRIPWIRE

Obama decided to think about World War III for another week before committing himself

Press TV

US President Obama announced on Saturday that World War III has been postponed. Rather than unilaterally bombing Syria, and setting off a regional conflagration that could escalate into nuclear confrontation with Russia, Obama has decided to seek Congressional approval before risking blowing up the world. Obama’s surprise move left observers stunned – especially Israeli leaders and lobbyists, who had gleefully assured the world that Obama would bomb Syria starting Saturday. Obama’s move makes it likely that a cataclysmic planetary nuclear holocaust will not happen for at least eight more days. On September 9th, when the US Congress returns from its month-long vacation, legislators will decide whether or not to risk destroying human civilization. Obama’s decision to procrastinate, and preserve the world as we know it for one more week, may be braver than it appears at first glance. Obama has been under tremendous pressure from Israel and its American lobby to bomb Syria. The script for his speech announcing “we begin bombing in five minutes” – or words to that effect – had already been written. All the President had to do was stride up to the teleprompter and deliver it. Nobody had even considered seeking Congressional approval. Yahoo News explained what happened next: “And then, sometime around 6 p.m. ET, Obama went for a 45-minute stroll around the South Lawn of the White House with Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, the aides said. During that walk, the president said that he wanted to go to Congress.”

Some of Obama’s advisors strongly disagreed with the President’s last-minute postponement of World War III. The same Yahoo News report explains how the Administration will try to ram a US attack on Syria through Congress: “Hammer home the potential threat to staunch ally Israel’s security.” The Congressional debate will pit the American people, who oppose attacking Syria by an overwhelming margin, against the Zionist lobby, which has Congress in its pocket, and which has been pushing hard for a US attack.

Does Obama really want Congress to authorize attacking Syria? Does he want to risk becoming the president who blew up the world? Or might he secretly hope that the American people will force Congress to vote down the war plan? In his article “Obama’s Kennedy Moment” Richard Scheck suggests that Obama cannot directly stand up against the hawks without risking his political future – or even his life:

“Many writers have speculated that John Kennedy was assassinated because he resisted the demands of the military-industrial complex during the height of the Cold War… It’s 50 years later and history seems to be repeating itself to the extent that President Obama’s sudden ‘change of heart’ today places him in grave jeopardy from those who were hell-bent on ratcheting up the level of violence in the Middle East with the expected attack on Syria.

“By postponing and possibly stifling the plans for a wider war in the region, the President has risked much political capital and placed himself directly in the path of those who are eager to see him gone – whether through resignation, impeachment or worse.”

If Sheck is right, Obama hopes the American people will rise up and put Congress on notice: No war in Syria! This would give Obama the political cover he needs to avoid starting World War III.

While postponing World War III for one week by passing the buck to Congress hardly merits a Nobel Peace Prize, it may turn out to be one of the wiser and more courageous decisions the generally feckless Obama has made.

Though the US President has approved drone murders, bloated military budgets, anti-Constitution atrocities, and other horrors, he has at least resisted the pressure from Netanyahu and the Zionist lobby to launch a wider war in the Middle East. What’s more, Obama has made no secret of his loathing of Netanyahu. Rumors of Zionist threats to the President’s life have surfaced periodically. The Editor of the Atlanta, Georgia newspaper the Jewish Times, Andrew Adler, actually published an editorial calling on Israel to assassinate President Obama. Why? Because Obama won’t obey Netanyahu’s orders to attack Iran. And the whole point of destroying Syria is to open the door for Netanyahu’s long-desired attack on Iran. If President Obama is indeed playing a game of passive-aggressive resistance against Netanyahu’s orders to launch a major Mideast war, as seems to be the case, one hopes that Obama’s Secret Service detail is more loyal than JFK’s was. By passing the buck to Congress, Obama may be saying to the Zionists: “Okay, this is your project, so make it happen yourselves. If you can’t push this through Congress, which you practically own outright, then it’s your tough luck. I don’t want to go down in history as the President who unilaterally decided to launch a potentially apocalyptic war in the Middle East. I know you don’t like it. So shoot me.”

The REAL Reason Israel Attacked Syria

Active military members and veterans are speaking out against U.S. intervention in the two-year Syrian civil war, saying the nation is too “stretched thin, tired and broke” to enter yet another open-ended conflict in the Middle East.

Soldiers are taking to social media sites such as Twitter and Reddit to ask why the United States needs to enter the war, with many responding to a tweet from Republican Rep. Justin Amash Saturday after President Barack Obama announced he’d seek Congressional debate on the Syrian issue.

“I’ve been hearing a lot from members of our Armed Forces,” Amash tweeted. “The message I consistently hear: Please vote no on military action against Syria.”

The Michigan lawmaker has been retweeting the public’s thoughts since Saturday through his profile, reports Business Insider, which sought more extended comments from veterans concerning U.S. involvement in Syria.

And while Obama has promised there will be no “boots on the ground,” many in the military are saying they do not believe him, and think that limited strikes against President Bashar Assad’s regime will lead to further action in the war-torn country.

One active duty soldier, whose name or sex was not revealed, said the Syrian conflict is full of conflicting views.

Palestinians inspect the damage at the office building of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh after being destroyed during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza

WWIII tripwire? NATO to defend Turkey, British troops may deploy to Syrian border, Israel fires on Syrian positi

SYRIA – NATO will defend alliance member Turkey, which struck back after mortar rounds fired from Syria landed inside its border, the alliance’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a meeting in Prague on Monday. “NATO as an organization will do what it takes to protect and defend Turkey, our ally. We have more plans in place to make sure that we can protect and defend Turkey and hopefully that way also deter so that attacks on Turkey will not take place,” he said. Rasmussen also welcomed a weekend agreement by Syrian opposition groups to put aside differences and form a new coalition. A Syrian fighter jet on Monday bombed an area near the Turkish border, causing several casualties, officials and witnesses said. An Associated Press video journalist saw the plane bomb an area around the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn, some 10 meters (yards) from the Turkish border. Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army, the main armed opposition group, downed a regime helicopter flying above the al-Hamdan airport in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor on Monday, Al Arabiya reported. Last week the rebels overran three security compounds in the town, located in the predominantly Kurdish oil-producing northeastern province of al-Hasaka, wresting control from the regime forces. An official at the local mayor’s office said Turkish ambulances were carrying several injured Syrians to a hospital, across the border in the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. The force of the blast shattered shop windows in Ceylanpinar, in southeastern Turkey, the official said. It was not clear if anyone in Ceylanpinar was injured in the bombing. The fighting in Ras al-Ayn touched off a massive flow of refugees two days ago, and more refugees were seen coming after the blast. Earlier, a Syrian helicopter bombed rebel positions in an area further south of Ras al-Ayn and the rebels could be heard responding with machine guns, the official said. –Al Arabiya News

British troops to be deployed on Syrian border: British troops could be deployed around Syria’s borders in the event of a worsening humanitarian crisis, the head of the armed forces warned yesterday. General Sir David Richards, the Chief of General Staff, said that contingency plans for military intervention are being “continually brushed over” as Syria’s civil war continues. He stressed that any troop involvement would be limited and conditional on the support of people in the affected area, but his remarks raise the spectre of the UK being involved in another conflict at a time when the West is trying to extract itself from the 11-year war in Afghanistan. General Richards told BBC1′s Andrew Marr programme that the UK’s main concern is preventing the Syrian civil war from spilling across borders into Jordan, Lebanon, or especially Turkey, a NATO ally. But with the humanitarian situation likely to worsen over the winter, he anticipated that political pressure for the Army to intervene would increase, though they would have to be “very cautious” about embarking on what would be a “huge effort.” -Telegraph

Israel fires on Syrian positions: IDF tanks fired into Syria on Monday for the second time in as many days, after a Syrian mortar shell landed in the Golan Heights. The events played out in a similar sequence to those on Sunday, when an errant Syrian shell elicited an Israeli warning shot at the Syrian military for the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. On Monday, however, the IDF said it shot “at the source of the fire in Syria,” and scored a “direct hit,” taking out two mortar launchers. The Syrian shell landed near an IDF outpost in Hazeka on the Golan. Army Radio reported that there were no injuries or damage from the shell, which hit as Israel suffered a barrage of missiles from Gaza, putting the IDF in the position of monitoring enemy fire along both the northern and southern borders. After Sunday’s mortar shell exploded, Israel sent a warning message to the UN, saying that any further firing into Israel will result “in a real response.” On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for restraint on behalf of Israel and Syria. Ban’s office said “the Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the potential for escalation. He calls for the utmost restraint and urges Syria and Israel to uphold the Disengagement Agreement, respect their mutual obligations, and halt firing of any kind across the ceasefire line.” The IDF limited its return fire to a single missile, since its policy is to only fire intensively in response to coming under major Syrian fire. Syria has been in the midst of a brutal civil war for over a year, and the IDF has been instructed to prevent the battles from spilling over into our territory. At Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israel was closely following events along the Syrian border, and was prepared for all possibilities on that front. –Jerusalem Post

Iran conducts largest air-defense drills ever: A joint air defense exercise of the Armed Forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) began in eastern Iran on Monday. The four-day military drill, entitled the Defenders of the Sky of Velayat 4, is being conducted in an area covering 850,000 square kilometers with the participation of 8000 Iranian military forces. The maneuvers are being carried out to enhance military capabilities of Iranian forces and provide them with an opportunity to practice modern military tactics to counter new military threats against the country. During the first stage of the exercise on Monday, air defense, radar, missile, surveillance, artillery, and lookout systems were deployed across the theater of operation. Surveillance planes took photographs of and gathered information about the theatre of operation and transmitted them to ground control centers in the quickest time possible. Lookouts were quickly stationed in their positions and established multi-layer and safe communications to transfer information about the theater of operation to the country’s integrated air defense network. According to military officials, the mobility of troops, the movement of defense systems, and the coordination between armed forces were assessed during the first stage of the exercise. Brigadier General Shahrokh Shahram, the spokesman for the maneuvers, said on Sunday that new domestically designed defense systems would be unveiled during the war games. Iran’s vice president said Monday that Tehran will break the ‘grasping hands’ of newly re-elected President Barack Obama, the official IRNA news agency reported. –Tehran Times

Relatives look at the bodies of Ali Al Mana'ama, top, Ali Darwesh, centre, and Ahmad Abdujawad, Hamas militants, at the morgue of Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza Strip

Relatives look at the bodies of Ali Al Mana'ama, top, Ali Darwesh, centre, and Ahmad Abdujawad, Hamas militants, at the morgue of Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza Strip. The military has called up thousands of reservists and massed troops, tanks and other armoured vehicles along the border with Gaza, signalling a ground invasion could be imminent. Palestinian militants, undaunted by the heavy damage the Israeli attacks have inflicted, have unleashed some 500 rockets against the Jewish state, including new, longer-range weapons turned for the first time this week against Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv heartland.

Following those attacks, the military deployed an Iron Dome rocket defence battery in central Israel today. The system, devised precisely to deflect the Gaza rocket threat, was deployed two months earlier than planned, the Defence Ministry said.

According to Israel its Iron Dome system has intercepted nearly 250 rockets since a round of fighting broke out on Wednesday, including an incoming projectile bound for Tel Aviv.

An Israeli Merkava tank is seen in a staging area on the border with the Gaza Strip

Israeli children wave their national flag as they greet an army convoy passing on a road leading to the Israel-Gaza border near the southern Israeli town of Ofakim

Palestinian militants in Gaza has kept up their cross-border rocket salvoes. Four rockets hit an apartment building in the Israeli Mediterranean port city of Ashdod, ripping into several balconies, and police said five people were injured.

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, said Israeli missiles wrecked the office building of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh - where he had met on Friday with the Egyptian prime minister - and struck a police headquarters.

With Israeli tanks and artillery positioned along the Gaza border and no end in sight to hostilities now in their fourth day, Tunisia's foreign minister travelled to the enclave in a show of Arab solidarity.

Officials in Gaza said 42 Palestinians, nearly half of them civilians including eight children and a pregnant woman, had been killed since Israel began its air strikes. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket on Thursday.

Israeli soldiers manning an Iron Dome battery outside a southern Israeli town take cover as one of several Iron Dome interceptor missiles are fired from the Gaza strip

Children's charity Unicef appealed for the 'utmost restraint' from both sides to prevent youngsters being killed and injured.

Six Palestinian children aged between 10 months and 15 years had been reported killed and 60 injured in airstrikes on Gaza, it said, with another fatally wounded by a rocket that fell short.

Israeli schools within a 25-mile radius were closed because of the 'indiscriminate' rocket attacks.

Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander appealed to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to go in person to the region for last-ditch talks to avert full-scale conflict.

'There is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Over the decades violence has only led to more violence,' he said.

'What is needed now is an immediate end to the violence. We urge the UN Secretary General to visit the region this week to begin talks with all parties, and with partners in the region

Palestinian mourners bury the body of Hamas militant Shadi al-Sheir during his funeral in Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza Strip

'There must now be a full-scale diplomatic initiative, led by the UN Secretary General himself, to try and bring this conflict to an end.

'The only hope for peace and security for the citizens of the region will be through re-starting the stalled negotiations towards agreeing a two state solution.'

Egypt's president will today hold four-way talks with the Qatari emir, the prime minister of Turkey and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the Gaza crisis, a presidential source said.

Egypt has been working to reinstate a truce between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, after an informal truce brokered by Cairo broke down.

Israel launched a massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared aim of deterring Hamas from launching cross-border rocket salvoes that have plagued southern Israel for years.

The operation has drawn Western support for what U.S. and European leaders have called Israel's right to self-defence, along with appeals to both sides to avoid civilian casualties.

Two Palestinian women view the rubble of their destroyed home after Israeli rockets hit the Hamas official house in Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip

Ultra-Orthodox Israeli men help an elderly Israeli woman run to a shelter as a 'Red Alert' sounds in the southern Israeli coastal town of Ashdod, shortly after Palestinian militants fired a missile

Palestinians search for victims beneath the rubble of the destroyed house of a Hamas official, following an Israeli air strike in Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip today

Hamas, shunned by the West over its refusal to recognise Israel, says its cross-border attacks have come in response to Israeli strikes against Palestinian fighters in Gaza.

Hamas says it is committed to continued confrontation with Israel and is eager not to seem any less resolute than smaller, more radical groups that have emerged in Gaza in recent years.

'We have not limited ourselves in means or in time,' Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Israel's Channel One television. 'We hope that it will end as soon as possible, but that will be only after all the objectives have been achieved.'

The Islamist movement has ruled Gaza since 2007. Israel pulled settlers out of Gaza in 2005 but has maintained a blockade of the tiny, densely populated coastal territory.

The widened scope of targets brings the scale of fighting closer to that of the war the two groups waged four years ago.

Hamas, a group that remains pledged to Israel’s destruction, was badly bruised during that confrontation, but has since restocked its arsenal with more and better weapons, and has been under pressure from smaller, more militant groups to prove its commitment to fighting Israel.

Destruction: A picture taken from the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing following Israeli air strikes inside the Palestinian territory on Saturday

Under attack: Israeli air strikes hit the cabinet headquarters of Gaza's Hamas government after militants fired rockets at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

Airstrikes: Explosion and smoke in Gaza city as Israel extends their attack to Hamas government buildings including the building housing the prime minister's office

Chaos: Palestinians observe rubble being removed from the site of an Israeli air raid in Gaza today

The damage caused by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on Saturday

'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.

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 Haniyeh, the prime minister.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in an emergency session with cabinet ministers yesterday. Israeli media reported they approved drafting 75,000 reservists. Earlier this week, the government approved a separate call-up of 30,000.

Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich, a military spokeswoman, said 16,000 reservists were called to duty yesterday and others could soon follow.
She said no decision had been made on a ground offensive but all options are on the table. President Barack Obama spoke separately to Israeli and Egyptian leaders yesterday as the violence in Gaza intensified. In a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he reiterated US support for Israel’s right to self-defense. Today the White House defended Israel's right to defend itself against attack and decide how to respond to the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, blaming Hamas for starting the conflict.

Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said: 'These rockets have been fired into Israeli civilian areas and territory for some time now. So Israelis have endured far too much of a threat from these rockets for far too long, and that is what led the Israelis to take the action that they did in Gaza.'

He told reporters the U.S. 'wants the same thing as the Israelis want,' which is an end to rocket attacks on Israel by Palestinian militants in Gaza.
The U.S is emphasising diplomacy and 'de-escalation' as keys to solving the conflict, Rhodes said.

To Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, he praised Egypt’s efforts to ease regional tensions.

Casualty: A wounded Palestinian child is carried into a hospital after an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip

A Palestinian man carries the wounded child into a hospital ward for treatment following an Israeli air raid in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday

A wounded Palestinian child receives hospital treatment following an Israeli air raid in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip

Egyptian leaders had promised to support Gaza against the Israeli attack on Thursday amid increasing signs that a massive ground invasion could be launched by Israel this weekend.

President Mohammed Mursi said he would not leave Gaza on its own and condemned Israel’s ‘blatant aggression against humanity’.

The declaration, hours after a visit to Gaza by Egypt’s prime minister, increased tensions in the region where Hamas militants continued to fire rockets into southern Israel – with three landing near Jerusalem – and Israeli warplanes pounded Palestinian targets.

Mr Mursi, whose Muslim Brotherhood is linked to Hamas, did not elaborate on what form the support would take. Egypt is trying to broker a ceasefire or peace agreement but with Hamas firing rockets across the border, and Israel calling up 75,000 reservists, there are fears it may already be too late.

ISRAEL'S HOME-GROWN 'IRON DOME' DEFENCE SYSTEM

In four days of fighting against Gaza-based militants, Israel has used a missile-defense system called 'Iron Dome' to intercept rockets fired at populated civilian areas.

It says the new home-grown system has been a tremendous success. As of Saturday evening, the military said it had shot down some 240 incoming rockets, more than half the number of projectiles launched into Israel since Wednesday.

Here's a quick look at the system:

Produced by Israeli-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Iron Dome is meant to shoot down rockets and artillery shells with ranges of up to 70 kilometers, or 45 miles. It has been operational since 2011.
How it works: The system detects launches of rockets and quickly determines their flight path. If it is headed toward populated areas or sensitive targets, it fires an interceptor with a special warhead that strikes the incoming rocket within seconds. Rockets headed toward open areas area allowed to land.
Currently, five Iron Dome batteries are deployed in Israel. Most are located in the south near Gaza. A fifth battery was deployed outside Tel Aviv on Saturday, two months ahead of schedule. Hours later, it shot down a rocket headed toward Tel Aviv.
Missiles cost around $40,000 a piece. In 2010, the U.S. provided $200 million to expand development. Additional funding is currently being considered, with $70 million already allocated for the 2012 fiscal year. (US defense statement just FYI: http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=15285)
The system is part of what Israel calls its 'multilayer missile defense'. It is meant to protect against the tens of thousands of short-range rockets possessed by militants in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. Israel has also deployed its 'Arrow' missile defense systems for long-range threats from Iran. The military says its new 'David's Sling' system, being developed by Rafael to stop medium-range missiles, will be activated by 2014.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a four-hour strategy session with a clutch of senior ministers in Tel Aviv on widening the military campaign, while other cabinet members were polled by telephone on raising the mobilisation level.

Meanwhile Jordan’s King Abdullah cancelled a trip to Britain next week amid fears that his country could be the next to experience the Arab Spring’s demands for change.

King Abdullah had been due to visit Britain to speak to the Jewish community in London. The cancellation followed protests in Amman which spread to other parts of the country. At least one person was killed and 75 injured, including 58 policemen.

Among those taking part was the Muslim Brotherhood, which Jordan has accused of inciting the unrest to score political points ahead of parliamentary elections in January.

In Gaza, Egyptian prime minister Hisham Kandil held the bloodied body of a child during his visit to a hospital, promising: ‘Egypt will spare no effort to stop the aggression and to achieve a truce'.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said she was appalled that civilians were being killed, including three Israelis in their apartment and several Palestinian children, including a baby, and a pregnant woman.

Her spokesman, Rupert Colville, told reporters on Friday that Pillay condemns the indiscriminate firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel and is extremely concerned by the sharp increase in aerial attacks by Israeli forces on the heavily populated Gaza Strip.

With rockets from the Gaza Strip targeting Tel Aviv, Colville said Pillay 'urges both sides to pull back from an increasingly dangerous confrontation.'

Israel targeted more than 130 locations in Gaza overnight on Thursday aimed at knocking out rocket-firing facilities which they say have been positioned close to schools and hospitals.

The conflict poses a test of Mr Mursi’s commitment to Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel, which the West views as the bedrock of Middle East peace.

On Thursday Foreign Secretary William Hague urged both Israel and the Palestinians to make efforts to halt the violence in Gaza, but made clear he believes Hamas bears the greatest responsibility for the current crisis, as well as the ability to bring it most swiftly to an end.

Mr Hague said he had spoken to the Egyptian foreign minister to urge him to use his country’s influence to try to negotiate a ‘meaningful’ ceasefire.

Protesters gathered near the Israeli embassy in London today condemned the British Government's stance on the conflict in Gaza.

With placards, flags and chants, the activists branded Israel a 'terror state' and showed their solidarity with the people of the Palestinian enclave.

Speakers took to a podium to condemn the Government after Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Hamas regime in Gaza bore 'principal responsibility' for the escalation of violence.

Organisers claimed that 'thousands' of protesters had joined the rally.There was a major police presence in London's Kensington area, with barriers and a gate blocking the road leading to the embassy.

A rocket is launched from Gaza as seen from near Sderot. Today it was reported militants deployed an Iron Dome rocket defence battery in central Israel.

Israeli firemen douse a burning car after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip landed in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod today

Unexploded bomb: A Palestinian Hamas policeman looks at an Israeli rocket in the street in Gaza City on Saturday

Iron Dome: Israeli soldiers watch as an Iron Dome launcher fires an interceptor rocket near the southern city of Beersheba today

Israel had been slowly expanding its operation beyond military targets but before dawn it ramped that up dramatically, hitting Hamas symbols of power. A three-storey apartment building belonging to a Hamas military commander was hit, and ambulances ferried more than 30 inhabitants wounded by the powerful explosion.

Missiles smashed into two small security facilities as well as the massive Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City, setting off a huge blaze that engulfed nearby houses and civilian cars parked outside, the Interior Ministry reported. No one was inside the buildings.

The Interior Ministry said a government compound was also hit while devout Muslims streamed to the area for early morning prayers, although it did not report any casualties from that attack.

Also hit was a cabinet building where the Hamas prime minister has his offices. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was not inside.

Missiles knocked out five electricity transformers, plunging more than 400,000 people in southern Gaza into darkness, according to the Gaza electricity distribution company.

In southern Gaza, Israeli aircraft went after the hundreds of underground tunnels militants used to smuggle in weapons and other contraband from Egypt, residents reported. A huge explosion in the area sent buildings shuddering in the Egyptian city of El-Arish, 30 miles away.

The tunnels have also been a lifeline for residents of the area during the recent fighting, providing a conduit for food, fuel and other goods after supplies stopped coming in from Israel before the military operation began.

Israeli aircraft kept pounding their original targets, the militants' weapons storage facilities and underground rocket launching sites. They also went after rocket squads more aggressively.

The military has called up thousands of reservists and massed troops, tanks and other armoured vehicles along the border with Gaza, signalling a ground invasion could be imminent.

Palestinian militants, undaunted by the heavy damage the Israeli attacks have inflicted, have unleashed some 500 rockets against the Jewish state, including new, longer-range weapons turned for the first time this week against Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv heartland.

Palestinian militants in Gaza kept up their cross-border rocket salvoes. One rocket hit an apartment building in the Israeli Mediterranean port city of Ashdod, ripping into several balconies, and police said five people were injured.

Officials in Gaza said 41 Palestinians, nearly half of them civilians including eight children and a pregnant woman, had been killed since Israel began its air strikes. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket on Thursday.