Children burn, Israel's jounalists cheer

Amos Harel:

Earlier Thursday, an Israeli aircraft killed a high-ranking Hamas official in Gaza along with nine women, including at least four wives, and 11 of his children, in the first major assassination since the IDF launched Operation Cast Lead on Saturday.

According to sources from the defense establishment, decision-makers are increasingly inclined to order a ground invasion into Gaza.

The assassination of Nizar Ghayan left dozens of people from neighboring buildings injured and brought up the body count on the Palestinian side to 425 people since the start of the campaign. The number of wounded is now estimated at around 2,000.

The IDF Spokesman said that Ghayan's house had served as a weapons silo and a war room for Hamas. Under the house, according to the IDF, was a tunnel which was meant to serve as an escape route in case of an Israeli attack. (Haaretz)

Bradley Burston:

There was every reason to believe Ghayan was right in every respect. That is, until Israel gave the order to kill him on Thursday.

Something has changed in the Mideast equation, and the killing of Ghayan [pronounced like Ryan with a hard R], is a telling indication of that change. (Haaretz)

This is the incident they are describing (Angry Arab):