Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Hamas and its Palestinian militia allies have enhanced long-range rocket strikes against Israel.

Officials said Hamas and Islamic Jihad rocket strikes have reached unprecedented ranges. They said rockets fired from the Gaza Strip have flown more than 100 kilometers, a 33 percent increase from the last mini-war in 2012.

“Hamas has led this round of violence so it can target and damage our
home front,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said.

On July 8, a Hamas rocket struck the northern Israeli city of Hadera,
nearly 100 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. Later, Hamas identified the
rocket as the R-160, believed to have been developed in cooperation by Iran.

Later, Israeli military sources said the rocket that landed in Hadera
was that of the Syrian-origin M-302. They said the M-302, with a range of up
to 120 kilometers, was believed to have been smuggled by Iran to the Gaza
Strip over the last year. In March 2014, the Israel Navy intercepted an
Iranian ship that contained 40 M-302s and believed destined for the Gaza
Strip.

“There may be surprises,” Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz
said.

Hamas and Jihad were said to have fired the M-75 rocket, a variant of
Iran’s Fajr-5 and which reached the Israeli cities of Jerusalem and Tel
Aviv. Officials said the Palestinian forces enhanced the M-75 over the last
year with Iranian assistance.

The Israel Air Force has deployed its Iron Dome missile and rocket
defense system to intercept Palestinian projectiles. On July 8, Iron Dome
was said to have intercepted at least 23 Palestinian rockets, which targeted
a range of cities in southern and central Israel. Despite heavy Israeli
retaliation, Palestinian medium-range rocket fire continued into July 9.

“In recent days, Hamas terrorists have fired hundreds of rockets at
Israel’s civilians,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “No other
country lives under such a threat, and no country would accept such a
threat.”

The military said it would mobilize up to 40,000 reserve troops in what
could constitute preparations for a ground invasion. At the same time, the
air force has intensified attacks on the Gaza Strip.

“We have been instructed by the political echelon to hit Hamas hard,”
Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mordechai Almoz said.

The military also said it foiled a Hamas infiltration of the coastal
base of Zikim. Four Hamas fighters armed with grenades were said to have
been intercepted and killed by the Israel Navy. Later, the air force struck
a vehicle and killed the commander of Hamas’ naval commando unit, Mohammed
Saban.

“The event appears to be over,” another Israeli military spokesman, Lt.
Col. Peter Lerner, said.

The military said it was targeting Hamas commanders as well as rocket
facilities in the Gaza Strip. They included the home of Mohammed Sbat,
identified as head of a rocket launching network around the northern Gaza
town of Beit Hanoun.

“If we need to go inside [Gaza] in a ground operation, then we will do
it,” Israeli Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said. “These
options exist.”

  Gaza Strip, Iran helped Hamas improve rocket range by 33 percent since 2012 mini-war, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, M-302, Moshe Ya’alon, R-160