Senior Hamas Leader Killed
Israelis Stand Ready to Invade Gaza by Land

By Griff Witte
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 2, 2009

JERUSALEM, Jan. 1 -- An Israeli airstrike on Thursday killed a senior Hamas leader, the first to die in the six-day assault on the Gaza Strip, as Israel readied for a possible ground invasion that military officials said could come at any moment.

Several members of the Hamas leader's family were also killed in the strike, which obliterated a house in the densely packed Jabalya refugee camp north of Gaza City. By late Thursday, the Palestinian death toll was 412, according to health officials in the strip.

Hamas rockets, meanwhile, continued to fly deep into Israel, with one striking an eight-story apartment building in the coastal city of Ashdod. There were no major injuries.

Israel's offensive in Gaza, which began last Saturday, has been carried out exclusively by air and by sea. After a day of heavy rain, the weather improved Thursday, and military analysts said Israeli tanks and other vehicles massed on Gaza's border could more easily enter the territory.

"The forces are there, and they're ready for anything," said an Israeli military spokeswoman, Maj. Avital Leibovich.

Israel's exact objectives in Gaza remain unclear. Israeli military officials have said they are determined to substantially reduce Hamas's rocket fire. Analysts expect Israel to seek a truce with Hamas on terms more favorable to the Jewish state than the ones under the six-month deal brokered by Egypt that expired in mid-December.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Thursday floated the idea of using international monitors, or even armed forces, to ensure that any future cease-fire holds. Israel has indicated it would welcome unarmed international observers.

Although Israel rejected a cease-fire proposal this week, there were signs Thursday that it was stepping up its diplomatic efforts. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni traveled to France, where officials have been leading an international campaign to persuade Israel and Hamas to hold their fire.

But there is pressure within Israel for the government to continue its campaign, and perhaps topple Hamas altogether. That would almost certainly require a ground operation, which would be likely to raise the death toll substantially on both sides.

"There is no way to take Hamas out without going into Gaza. The problem is the price," said Yaakov Amidror, a retired Israeli major general who headed the military's research and assessment division. "My feeling is that we should do it. All the other players in the region are wondering why we are hesitating if we are so strong."

Already, the air campaign has made this the bloodiest conflict in Gaza since Israel seized the territory in 1967. Precision-guided missile strikes have taken a heavy toll on Hamas's police force and its rocket-launching squads. More than 60 civilians have also been killed, according to United Nations estimates.

Hamas rocket fire has killed four Israelis since the offensive began, three of them civilians.

The Palestinian movement's senior leaders had not been among the victims until Thursday, when an Israeli airstrike killed Nizar Rayyan, a cleric who served as a liaison between Hamas's political and military wings. The strike also killed his four wives and nine of his 12 children, the Associated Press reported, citing Palestinian health officials. Rayyan, 49, had called for renewed suicide bombings inside Israel and had refused to go into hiding, as other prominent Hamas members had done.

Leibovich said other Hamas leaders were also marked men. "We have defined legitimate targets as any Hamas-affiliated target," she said, adding that Israel is taking precautions to avoid hitting civilians whenever possible.

Also struck Thursday was Gaza's parliament building, as well as smugglers' tunnels and weapons facilities, the Israeli military said.

Hamas has been defiant in the face of Israel's attacks, continuing to fire dozens of unguided rockets each day. Hamas officials have said they will fight on despite their losses.

"We are waiting for you to enter Gaza to kill you or make you into Shalits," the group said in a statement, referring to Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who remains captive in Gaza more than two years after he was seized by fighters affiliated with Hamas in a cross-border raid.

Hamas, which won 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, has been in control of Gaza since it routed forces loyal to the rival Fatah party in June 2007. Since then, Gaza's 1.5 million residents have been living under an Israeli blockade; the vast majority of Gazans have not been allowed to leave, and only the most basic supplies have been allowed in.

Meanwhile, Iranian-backed Hamas and its allies have used the territory as a launching pad for thousands of rockets directed at Israel.

Israel on Thursday allowed 93 trucks into the strip to deliver supplies. Israel accused Hamas of hoarding critically needed goods in order to create the impression that conditions in Gaza are worse than they actually are. Israel has not allowed foreign journalists into Gaza since its operation began, and the accusation could not be independently verified.

The International Committee of the Red Cross reported Thursday that humanitarian needs in Gaza are growing, despite the aid shipments. The organization said electricity, cooking gas and water are all in extremely short supply.

Speaking in Paris after meetings with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Livni said there is no humanitarian reason for a cease-fire.

"There is no humanitarian crisis in the strip, and therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce," she said. "Israel has been supplying comprehensive humanitarian aid to the strip."

Livni's trip came as European leaders continued to press for a truce. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had proposed a 48-hour cease-fire, but Israel and Hamas both rejected the idea. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who took the rotating helm of the European Union on Thursday, said the E.U. would lead efforts to restore calm, citing a power vacuum in Washington as President Bush prepares to leave office this month.

"The unpleasant thing is that we cannot count on the U.S. administration," Topolanek told Czech Television. "It is up to the European Union to take over the initiative."

The White House has called for a cease-fire but has said that Hamas must stop firing its rockets before Israel is required to halt its campaign.

President-elect Barack Obama has declined to get involved, with his office saying that the United States has one president at a time and that Bush is still in charge.

Special correspondent Reyham Abdel Kareem in Gaza City contributed to this report.