Gaza Update (6 p.m. Israel/Palestine; 4 p.m. Britain): Targeted Assassinations and a Lot of Spin

Later Post: Hamas Strikes Back (Against the Palestinian Authority)

Just back to the UK to learn that an Israeli airstrike on the home of a Hamas leader, Nizar Rayyan, has killed him, his wife, and his three children. The death toll in Gaza is now more than 400 with more than 2000 wounded.

Israel has expanded its attack options, adding drones and naval bombardment to manned bombing. Targets on Thursday included the Parliament building and the Justice Ministry.

In the public relations battle, former Prime Minister and current Prime Ministerial candidate Benyamin Netanyahu has given an interview to Al Jazeera. His prime objective was to counter the image of mounting civilian casualties with the claim, which he has pressed repeatedly since Saturday, that Hamas put its fighters amongst the urban population while the Israeli military fights in the open.



On another diplomatic front, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Lvini is arguing that there is no humanitarian crisis since Israel is allowing some aid into Gaza. (A bit of perspective: Israel did allow 150 truckloads of aid into Gaza on Wednesday. This compares to an average daily supply of 600 truckloads during the truce period.)

For the  moment the Israelis --- thanks  more to Washington and London than to the merits of their PR campaign --- retain a free hand for their operations. The UN Security Council failed Wednesday to agree on the wording of a draft resolution, as the US and Britain insisted on emphasis on Hamas rocket attacks against Israel.