War in Israel: Timeline, Summary, and Analysis of the New Hamas and Israel Escalation

Early this past Wednesday morning, after four days of Hamas launching rockets into Israel, I heard that the Israeli Defense Forces killed Ahmed Al-Jabari, a senior Hamas military chief who was responsible for an enormous escalation in rocket attacks since 2002. Soon after reading about the circumstances surrounding his assassination, I began to worry. Familiar terms like “surgical airstrike,” “increased rocket fire,” and “human shields” were brandished about, setting off alarms in my head. Could Israel be headed into another ‘Cast Lead’ operation?

Are my friends and family in Talpiot, Tel Aviv, Rehovot, Netanya and various locations throughout Israel safe?