GAZA CITY: Israel launched a major offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza Wednesday, killing the military commander of Hamas in an airstrike and threatening an invasion of the enclave that the Islamist group vowed would “open the gates of hell.”
 
Operation “Pillar of Defense” began with a strike on a car carrying the commander of the military wing of Hamas, the Iranian-armed Islamist movement which controls Gaza and dominates a score of smaller armed groups.
 
Within minutes of the death of Ahmad al-Jaabari, big explosions shook Gaza as the Israeli air force struck at selected targets just before sundown, blasting plumes of smoke and debris high above the crowded city.
 
Panicked civilians ran for cover and the death toll mounted quickly. Ten people including three children were killed, the Health Ministry said, and about 40 were wounded. Also among the dead were an 11-month-old baby and a woman pregnant with twins.
 
Army tanks shelled border areas of Gaza in the south and the Israeli navy shelled a Hamas security position from the sea.
 
Hamas stuck back, firing at least four Grad rockets at the southern city of Beersheba in what it called its initial response. Israel reported damage but no casualties. Its “Iron Dome” interceptor defense knocked out a dozen rockets in flight.
 
Late Wednesday night, Hamas’ military wing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said it had fired three locally made rockets into the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Israel did not confirm the attack.
 
Egypt, whose new Islamist government pledged to honor the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, condemned Israel’s airstrikes as a threat to regional security, recalled its ambassador from Israel and called for an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council.
 
Egypt’s President Mohammad Mursi has said of the Palestinians that “our bloods is their blood” and Egypt may not “accept what was accepted before.”
 
Arab League foreign ministers planned to meet Saturday to discuss the crisis.
 
A second Gaza war has loomed on the horizon for months as waves of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli strikes grew increasingly more intense and frequent.
 
Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09 began with a week of air attacks and shelling, followed by a land invasion of the blockaded coastal strip, sealed off at sea by the Israeli navy. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed and 13 Israelis died.
 
The Israeli army said it had targeted dozens of Hamas’ medium range underground rocket launch and infrastructure sites in Wednesday’s strikes.
 
“This has significantly damaged the rocket launch capabilities as munitions warehouses owned by Hamas and other terror organizations were targeted. In addition, Israeli navy soldiers targeted several Hamas terror sites stationed along the shoreline of the Gaza Strip,” it said in a statement.
 
The Hamas internal security headquarters in southern Gaza was destroyed. There were no injuries because it had been evacuated.
 
Hamas said Jaabari, who ran the Qassam Brigades, died along with a Hamas photographer when their car was blown apart by an Israeli missile. The charred wreckage of a car could be seen belching flames, as emergency crews picked up what appeared to be body parts. Israel confirmed it had carried out the attack and announced there was more to come. Reuters witnesses saw Hamas security compounds and police stations blasted apart.
 
“Today we relayed a clear message to the Hamas organization and other terrorist organizations,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “And if there is a need, the [Israeli army) is prepared to broaden the operation. We will continue to do everything in order to protect our citizens.”
 
The Israeli military said it was ready, if necessary, to send ground troops into Gaza. The defense officials who said a ground operation was likely in the coming days spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing sensitive military plans.
 
“We are at the beginning of the event, and not the end,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said during a joint appearance with the prime minister. “In the long run I believe the operation will help strengthen the power of deterrence and to return quiet to the south.”
 
Residents in both Israel and Gaza braced for prolonged violence. Gazans rushed to stock up on food and fuel. After nightfall, streets were empty as the sounds of Israeli warplanes and explosions of airstrikes could be heard in the distance.
 
Immediate calls for revenge were broadcast over Hamas radio.
 
“The occupation has opened the gates of hell,” Hamas’ armed wing said. Smaller groups also vowed to strike back.
 
“Israel has declared war on Gaza and they will bear the responsibility for the consequences,” Islamic Jihad said.
 
Outside the hospital where Jaabari’s body was taken, thousands of Gazans chanted “Retaliation!” and “We want you to hit Tel Aviv tonight!”
 
“I was sitting on my bed with my grandson when suddenly the wall collapsed on both of our heads,” said Mahmoud Bana, a 62-year-old man who was slightly wounded along with his 11-year-old grandson. “We don’t know what happened but we know it is going to be a few hard days ahead.”
 
Southern Israeli communities within rocket range of Gaza were on full alert, and schools were ordered closed for Thursday. About a million Israelis live in range of Gaza’s relatively primitive but lethal rockets, supplemented in recent months by longer-range, more accurate systems.
 
“The days we face in the south will, in my estimation, prove protracted,” Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai, Israel’s chief military spokesman, told Channel 2 TV.
 
The Israeli Cabinet gave preliminary authorization for the mobilization of military reserves if required, Netanyahu's office said.
 
Asked if Israel might send in ground forces, Mordechai said: “There are preparations, and if we are required to, the option of an entry by ground is available.”
 
Israeli President Shimon Peres briefed U.S. President Barack Obama on the operation, Peres's office said. He told Obama that Jaabari was a “mass-murderer” and his killing was Israel’s response to Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza.
 
Later Wednesday, once the barrage of airstrikes on Gaza had begun, the U.S. threw its weight behind Israel, and condemned Palestinian militant rocket attacks on southern Israel.
 
“We support Israel’s right to defend itself, and we encourage Israel to continue to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties,” U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.
 
“We strongly condemn the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel, and we regret the death and injury of innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians caused by the ensuing violence,” he added.
 
The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, called on Arab states, especially Egypt, to halt the assault. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council said the United Nations Security Council should put pressure on Israel to stop its attacks.