Word: saturday
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This time, however, the Israeli government is earning praise in the Israeli media for its handling of the assault against Hamas. In particular, analysts cite the months of intelligence gathering and high level of secrecy in planning the air strikes. The timing of the first raids on Saturday appears to have caught Hamas by surprise, accounting for the high number of casualties among the militants...
...strikes that began Saturday, in which Palestinians claim at least 280 people have been killed, marked a dramatic escalation of the high-stakes poker game between Israel and Hamas. Over the past seven weeks, each side has calculated the odds of outbidding the other. Hamas - and the civilian population it represents - paid a heavy price in human casualties over the weekend, but it may nonetheless retain a strategic advantage. The radical Palestinian movement that governs Gaza appears to have underestimated Israel's readiness to launch a military campaign in response to an escalation of Palestinian rocket fire onto Israel...
Israel launched Saturday's strike knowing that Hamas would respond with a fusillade of rockets, possibly using some of the longer-range weapons smuggled into Gaza over the past year to strike Israeli towns such as Ashdod and Ashkelon. Hamas may even activate suicide-bomber cells in East Jerusalem or the West Bank. Israel had prepared for the first possibility by deploying additional air-raid protection in towns as far as 25 miles (40 km) from the Gaza border. And it will probably follow up the air strikes with ground attacks aimed at neutralizing as much...
During a conference call with the local media on Saturday, Governor Lingle dispelled any talk of an elaborate plot to undermine the incoming Administration. The state and city had contact with Obama's team, and they expressed confidence and calm, she said. "There was never any talk like that from the civil defense headquarters," said Lingle, responding to a reporter's question. "It was thought to be something to do with a lightning strike...
...Saturday was more of the same, once the lights were back on. Obama, accompanied by his wife Michelle and Chicago friends Valerie Jarrett, Eric Whitaker and Martin Nesbitt, went to the Semper Fit Center for a morning workout. When Obama emerged at about 8:45 a.m., his Chicago White Sox cap worn backward, he briefly flashed the "shaka," a Hawaiian gesture that means everything from "hey there" to "hang loose...