1.  The first paragraph of a news article should answer the questions who, what, where and when. List the who, what, where and when of this news item. (NOTE: The remainder of a news article provides details on the why and/or how.)

2.  What is the goal of Israel's "Operation Pillar of Defense"?

3.  Who was Ahmed Jabari?

4.  What caused the Israeli military to attack specific targets in Gaza?

5.  Consider the following:

• Approximately 1 million Israeli civilians live within range of terrorist rockets being launched from Gaza.  Between January and October 2012, over 800 rockets had been launched at Israel from Gaza.  Over a 24 hour period on Nov. 13, Palestinian terrorists fired some 70 rockets and mortars into Israel from Gaza, wounding three Israelis, causing damage to property and sending a million residents of the south into bomb shelters.  In these towns and cities of Israel, schools are closed during the attacks and people go into bomb shelters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said: “Whoever thinks that he can routinely attack the daily lives of the residents of the South without paying a heavy price is mistaken.  I am responsible for choosing the right time to exact the highest possible price and so it will be.”
• A large part of the terrorist weapons storage sites the Israeli Air Force targeted for destruction were located in civilian residential buildings.  Israeli policy is generally to drop leaflets warning the Palestinians to vacate these areas because of imminent attacks.  The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip called on Arab states, especially Egypt, to halt Israel's assault on the Palestinian enclave, which was launched earlier on Wednesday.  "We call on our Arab brothers, and especially Egypt...and the new Egyptian presidency, to suppress this barbaric campaign in defense of Gaza and its people," Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of Hamas's Gaza government said in a statement.  "I call for an urgent Arab summit to confront the brutal aggression," he added.

a)  Is Israel justified in attempting to end rocket attacks on its citizens by targeting Hamas leaders? Explain your answer.
b)  Should Egypt attempt to force Israel to stop its attacks on rocket sites in Gaza as Hamas prime minister of Gaza Ismail Haniyeh has called on them to do? Explain your answer.