video transcript

(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION) Israel aircraft attacked sites in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis and in Gaza City early on Thursday (November 15). On Wednesday (November 14), Israel exchanged the fiercest fire with Hamas in years after assassinating its military mastermind and threatening a wider offensive in the Gaza Strip to stem Palestinian rocket salvoes. Launched during a deceptive lull in almost a week of surging cross-border violence, Israel's air assault had an intensity recalling the outset of the 2008-09 Gaza war though this time the Palestinian death toll of 10 was far lower. Hamas, reeling at the strategic loss of top commander Ahmed al-Jaabari in a devastating strike on his car, resumed rocket attacks against the Jewish state's desert south. On either side of the frontier, people fled streets for cover. Israeli police said more than 80 rockets and mortars were fired in from Gaza after Jaabari's death. Israel's military said its Iron Dome interceptor had shot down 27 of the missiles.