Speak now, or forever hold your peace.
14.50 Air strikes continue in Gaza as funerals for victims are held
14.30 The latest figures showing the escalation of the Gaza crisis today, according to the Jerusalem Post:
The IDF has attacked some 130 terror targets in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The army stated that it had targeted more than 550 targets since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge.
Among the targets hit were 31 terror tunnels, 60 underground rocket launchers, control and command centers for terror activity and weapons storehouses.
13.56 At least eight missiles fired from Gaza today have been successfully intercepted by Israel's famous 'Iron Dome' defence system. Here is a video of the technology in action:
13.35 Gaza has approximately 30-50 of the 302mm long range rockets that were fired overnight at Hadera (see 09.15), according to Israeli television's Channel 10, quoting a senior IDF officer.
Mourners carry bodies of Palestinians during their funeral in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip(REUTERS)
13.20 Punishing Hamas too severely could create a power vacuum into which more extreme militant groups could surge in Gaza, according to Brigadier General Michael Herzog, a retired Israeli Defence Force commander and former chief of staff to Israel's ministry of defence. Colin Freeman reports:
Israel will be forced to tread a delicate line between punishing Hamas and creating a power vacuum that could allow al Qaeda-linked groups take its place Gaza, military experts say.
Even though Hamas denies Israel's right to exist, Israeli officials consider it the lesser of the many evils that could flourish in Gaza were it weakened to the point of collapse by Israeli military action.
The Gaza strip is already home to a number of shadowy extremist militant groups, including a faction loyal to Islamic State - formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (Isis) - the al-Qaeda offshoot group that last month seized large parts of northern Iraq.
"One way in which an Israeli military operation could backfire is by shaking Hamas's control on the ground to the point that it allowed other factions, including jihadists, to come to the fore," said Brigadier General Michael Herzog, a retired Israeli Defence Force commander and former chief of staff to Israel's ministry of defence.
"At least Hamas provides an address - you don't have that with the jihadi factions. They aren't dominant right now but Hamas no longer controls Gaza as firmly as it used to, and if it was seriously weakened they could take advantage. We don't want another Somalia on our doorstep."
Full story: Why Israel must tread a fine line in Gaza
13.06 Reports of a rocket attack on Zichron Yaakon this afternoon represent the northernmost point struck by rockets yet.
Zichron Yaakon is roughly 80 miles north of Gaza, underlining the increased range of Hamas missiles.
Only one person was reported to be "lightly injured".
12.50 David Blair, the Daily Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, has blogged on the tendency of history to repeat itself in the Middle East - but warns that this time the outcome may be very different for a severely weakened Hamas:
Two vital differences are worth highlighting. The first is that Israel’s defences against rocket attack, based on the Iron Dome system, are more sophisticated than ever before. Hence the 160 rockets appear to have caused no injuries, let alone fatalities - at least as I write. Even allowing for a strong element of luck – I understand that one rocket came within 50 metres of hitting Sderot railway station today – that is still pretty remarkable.
The second is that Hamas is starting from a position of unprecedented weakness. During the previous operations, it was firmly allied with Hizbollah, Syria and Iran as part of the “axis of resistance” against Israel and the West. Hamas could replenish its stockpile of rockets using an established supply system. Even after Israel had destroyed a big proportion of its armoury, this meant that Hamas could still recover its strength.
Today, by contrast, the "axis of resistance" has been broken on the anvil of the Syrian civil war, with Hamas finding itself on the opposite side of that conflict to its former allies. The result is that Hamas has left Syria and its alliance with Iran - its most important supplier of rockets – has come under strain. Meanwhile, the downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo means that Egypt now has a regime with no qualms about sealing off Gaza or cooperating with Israel. Consequently, Hamas is more isolated than ever before.
12.10 A wedding party in Holon, central Israel was forced to scramble for bomb shelters on Tuesday night when a rocket was spotted overhead:
11.52 Israel's economy minister Naftali Bennett have given an interview with Israel's Channel 2, in which he warns that "Wars are not won by defensive measures" anfd that the Israeli people are strong and are prepared to bear the ongoing situation.
"We are doing the work," he told the television channel.
Bennett added, "I want to bless the security forces and the operators of Iron Dome."
Palestinians react after what police said were Israeli air strikes that destroyed a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip (REUTERS)
11.34 Inna Lazareva, who is in Sderot - just across the border from Gaza - for the Telegraph, reports on a group of students who have travelled down from Jersualem to watch the missiles being launched from a nearby hilltop:
The photo below shows three yeshiva students who came to Sderot from the Jerusalem area. They are sitting on a hilltop overlooking Gaza a few miles away.
They said they came to distribute food and support to the locals in Sderot, and also watch the action.
They spent the night on the hill, watching the rockets from Gaza and the Israeli strikes into Gaza, which they said were loud and quite scary.
11.30 So far today 40 rockets are believed to have been fired at Israel from Gaza, eight of which have been intercepted by Israel's 'Iron Dome' missile defence system.
No deaths have yet been reported from those which have hit Israeli terroritory.
11.10 A video has emerged of Palestinians setting fire to tyres and trees outside an Israeli military base on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, as tensions rise over the Israeli military strikes on Gaza.
10.50 Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered his military to increase the intensity of its operations in Gaza, according to the Times of Israel.
“No target has immunity,” the prime minister told the troops, according to an unnamed senior government official.
The army will step up its attacks on Hamas militants, as well as tunnels and other infrastructure, the official told the newspaper.
He also warned that it would not be a quick campaign: “It’s not ‘bang, and we’re done”.
Smoke rises after an airstrike in the west of Gaza City (EPA)
10.30 A variety of hi-tech and innovative measures to help protect Israelis from air strikes have been developed.
The Red Alert app sends push notifications to anyone who downloads it to their smartphone warning of the location of rocket attacks in realtime.
It also allows users to comment on each warning, in theory allowing people to send messages of solidarity or to inform relatives and friends they are safe - though many are predictably of a more unsavoury tone.
Screenshot of 'Red Alert' app for iPhone
10.10 Operation Protective Edge - the strikes on Gaza - will be expanded in the near future, according to Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon.
“The campaign against Hamas will expand in the coming days, and the prices the organization will be will be very heavy,” he said.
“We are talking about a campaign that won’t be short, and we must continue to maintain patience,” he said after a security meeting with Shin Bet and the IDF, according to Channel 10.
“We will continue to hit Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the Strip with harsh strikes from the air, from the ground, and the sea in order to guarantee security for Israeli citizens.”
09.56 More details have emerged on the targets of those overnight Israeli air strikes: these included 118 concealed rockets launching sites, six Hamas compounds - including naval police and national security compounds - 10 militant command centers, weapons storage facilities and 10 tunnels used for militant activity and to ferry supplies in from Egypt.
The border between Gaza and Egypt has effectively been closed for months.
09.37 Seven people were reported dead in an incident in southeast Gaza yesterday as Palestinians apparently attempted to form a "human shield" at a house targeted by Israeli air strikes.
Israel has a policy of contacting civilians in homes being targetted - usually because they are believed to serve a militant purpose - by a telephone call or leaflet shortly before the strike, warning them to immediately evacuate.
In this case reported by the New York Times , an Israeli drone fired a flare at the roof of the home in warning.
Rather than evacute, Palestinians reportedly went on to the roof of the building to try to prevent a bombing.
The strike took place nonetheless, resulting in seven deaths and 25 people injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza told the newspaper.
A Palestinian man searches for belongings under the rubble of a house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City (REUTERS)
09.26 Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has claimed responsibility for rockets launched at Tel Aviv this morning, saying they were M-75s.
Meanwhile a rockets launched at Hadera is understood to be Syria-made M302 rockets - a long-range projectile missile. This information, reported by The Jerusalem Post , is based on analysis of the remains of the rocket carried out this morning.
Forty such missiles were found aboard an Iranian arms ship destined for Gaza that was intercepted by the Israeli navy in March, the newspaper reported.
The rockets are believed to have a range of up to 100 miles, bringing most of the populated part of Israel within its range.
The rocket fired at Haedra landed on a street near a house, causing no injuries, the military said.
09.15 The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) Twitter feed has confirmed missile strikes on Hadera as well as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Be-er Sheva within the last 24 hours
@IDF
09.05 Video has emerged appearing to show rockets being fired from Gaza by Islamic jihadis:
08.50 Israel has claimed its overnight air strikes are in retaliation for Hamas-led missile strikes on cities including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, launched from the Gaza Strip.
There have even been reports of missiles reaching Hadera and Haifa, in northern Israel.
Josie Ensor takes a look at the weapons in Hamas's arsenal, and the ranges they are now reportedly capable of striking across:
Since the 2012 eight-day war, Hamas has increased the size and strength of its rocket arsenal. Israeli military intelligence puts its stockpile at around 10,000 rockets and mortars, including long-range rockets capable of reaching Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the northern port city of Haifa. But what do they have?
* Grad missiles
Thought to be supplied by Iran, have a slightly longer reach - up to about 12 miles - though some upgraded versions may have a considerably longer range. The Grads are 122-millimeter rockets with relatively low accuracy.
* Weishi WS-1E
A Chinese-designed rocket, the Weishi (which translates as Guardian), has a range of around 25 miles. One of the largest unguided rockets in the world, the launcher is mounted on a standard 6x6 truck and digital computer system provides fire direction.
Full story: What is in Hamas’s new deadly arsenal?
08.40 Robert Tait is in Gaza for the Telegraph, and has filed this report on how an Israeli air strike which hit the car of Mohammed Shaaban – a senior commander in the Islamist movement’s military wing – has almost certainly propelled Israel’s phoney war with Hamas into an all-out conflict:
Shaaban was killed along with three other occupants in the precise strike that sent the entrails of his vehicle flying in all directions.
The charred debris of metal, rubber and blood covered much of Gaza City’s Shabia crossroads.
On a billboard opposite was a large poster of Ahmed al-Jabari, another Hamas commander, whose targeted assassination by Israel was the trigger for the last war in 2012 – one that left about 170 Palestinians and six Israelis dead.
Yet there was little respite for those watching from the sidelines to reflect upon that potential omen.
As a clean-up team cleared away the wreckage, three more explosions – one after the other – sent the curious crowd of onlookers scattering for cover.
Less than five minutes later, another two blasts were heard in the nearby Zarqa neighbourhood.
Palestinians search the wreckage of vehicle following the air strike (Rex)
Full story: Israel and Hamas exchange missile fire as new Gaza war looms
08.20 Jordan, one of just two Arab countries to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, has this morning called for an immediate halt to the deadly Israeli air raids against the Gaza Strip.
Government spokesman Mohammad Momani described the raids as "barbaric".
More than 20 Palestinians have died so far in the strikes, while nobody in Israel has yet been reported killed from missile strikes.
Jordan "condemns the military aggression that Israel has launched in the Gaza Strip" and calls for "its immediate halt", Momani said.
He said the "barbaric aggression" had "negative repercussions on the Gaza Strip and the whole region".
08.00 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the escalating situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Overnight the Israeli air force bombed 160 targets in the Gaza Strip as it pressed a widescale campaign to stop volleys of Palestinian rocket fire, an army official said Wednesday.
Meanwhile at least five rockets fired from Gaza have been shot down over Tel Aviv and the surrounding area on Wednesday morning.
These followed rockets fired at Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv, also claimed by the group, several hours ago, marking the first time since 2012 that Gaza militants have targeted major population centres in Israel.
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