Israel in 'all-out war' with Hamas

Zechariah 9:5
Ashkelon shall see it, and be afraid;Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.The king shall perish from Gaza; Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel is now in "all-out war" with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel's parliament Monday.

...Israel says the goal of the bombardment is to stop an ongoing stream of rockets fired from Gaza into the southern part of its country. More than 40 rockets were fired into southern Israel on Monday despite the raids, according to Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld.

One of the strikes killed an Israeli at a construction site in the city of Ashkelon and wounded eight others, three seriously, a hospital spokeswoman told CNN.

The Israeli fatality is the second since the airstrikes began Saturday. Ashkelon, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Gaza, has been a frequent target of the rocket attacks.

See Isralestine: The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East .