RAMALLAH: Just after 2:00 pm on Sunday, at least 15 rockets were heard in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod in less than five minutes, reports Ha'aretz Live Blog on the Gaza crisis. The rockets come as Israel enters its fifth day of the largest military offensive, Operation Pillar of Defense, on the Gaza Strip since Operation Cast Lead nearly four years ago. Earlier Sunday morning militants fired rockets on several Israeli cities, including Beer Sheva, Ashdod, Sderot, and Tel Aviv. The rocket to Tel Aviv, according to Israeli military sources, was intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system. Shortly before noon one Israeli was seriously wounded when five rockets pounded Sha'ar Hagenev, according to Ha'aretz. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a press briefing there will be no ceasefire if Palestinian militants in Gaza do not cease rocket fire. PM Netanyahu claimed that Israel was ready to escalate the conflict. Many Israeli officials have signaled their preparedness to launch a full scale ground invasion in Gaza. From the 75,000 reservist soldier cap approved on Friday, 30,000 soldiers have been summoned as Israeli forces as the military begins to mobilize around the Gaza border. At least 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes on densely populated areas since Saturday night, bringing the total death toll to at least 56. An airstrike on the Al-Shati refugee camp Sunday afternoon killed two Palestinians, a 27-year old and a 9 year-old. Although Israeli military sources have claimed they have wiped out most of Hamas's military capabilities, Hamas disputes this claim and rocket attacks from Gaza have scarcely decreased throughout Israel's offensive.
