This is the ‘shock and awe’ part of the campaign, and it looks like the Israelis were pretty successful in taking out some good targets. They really worked the surprise factor in this operation. To me, the ground campaign is the one to watch, and Omert has a lot riding on this one. The memories of the 2006 campaign in Lebanon are still fresh, and you can bet that Hamas has studied the crap out of how Hezbollah worked the angles in that war. –Matt
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Israel pounds Gaza for second day
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
Reuters
Sunday, December 28, 2008; 9:23 AM
GAZA (Reuters) – Israel destroyed Hamas’s main Gaza security complex in an air strike on Sunday and prepared for a possible invasion of the territory after killing nearly 290 Palestinians in the opening rounds of a powerful offensive.
Israel said the campaign that began on Saturday was a response to almost daily rocket and mortar fire that intensified after Hamas, an Islamist group in charge of the coastal enclave Israel quit in 2005, ended a six-month ceasefire a week ago.
Despite the air attacks, militants fired some 80 rockets into Israel, emergency services said. In one of the longest-reaching salvoes, two rockets struck near Ashdod, a main port 30 km (18 miles) from Gaza, causing no casualties.