Israel/Palestine rockets hone in on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

On Friday Tel Aviv residents were forced to run for cover as Palestinian militants fired rockets at the Israeli city for a second day running. There were also reports that a rocket had come close to hitting Jerusalem for the first time in decades. Israel responded to the attacks with air strikes on the Gaza strip, during a time when Egypt’s Prime Minister was visiting the area. Hesham Qandil condemned what he called “Israeli aggression” and said Cairo will continue to seek a ceasefire: “The Egyptian revolution will make every effort and make sacrifices to stop this aggression and to achieve a truce and ensure that it continues, to achieve the equitable peace and to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital” On Friday evening the Israeli army closed three roads leading to the Gaza Strip or along the border, and Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, was reportedly seeking a green light from the government to mobilise up to 75,000 reservists, indicating a possible land intervention Meanwhile: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he was doing all he could to prevent civilian deaths: “I’m glad to see that most of the governments of the world don’t fall into the false symmetry of equating the terrorist aggressors with their civilian victims and, of course, Israel will continue to exercise this prudence and self-restraint while defending our citizens against terrorism.”