Hamas military chief killed in Gaza air strike.

Hamas has said that Israeli air strike in Gaza which killed Ahmed Jabari, the head of its military wing, "has opened the gates of hell".

On Nov. 14, 2012, the IDF targeted Ahmed Jabri, the head of Hamas' military wing, in the Gaza Strip. Jabri was a senior Hamas operative who served in the upper echelon of the Hamas' command and was directly responsible for executing terror attacks against Israel in the past. see video. The attack comes after a four-day escalation on the Israel-Gaza border.

Following the assassination, the IAF struck over 20 underground rocket launchers belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The airstrikes targeted long-range rockets in the possession of terror organizations, such as the Fajr-5 and other rockets that are capable of striking Tel Aviv from Gaza. Palestinian sources said that six Gazans were killed in the IDF strikes.

• Hamas military wing says assassination 'opened gates of hell'
• Israel: strike the 'start of targetting Gaza militants'
• Jabari was travelling in his vehicle in Gaza City when car exploded.

Jabari, who is the most senior Hamas official to be killed since an Israeli invasion of Gaza four years ago, was killed in an air strike on a vehicle, in a dramatic resumption of Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian militant leaders.

Jabari has long topped Israel's most-wanted list, the Associated Press reported, and was blamed for in a string of attacks, including the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit in 2006.

His son was also reportedly killed in the targeted air strike, according to Osama Hamdan, a Hamas representative in Lebanon, talking to Al Jazeera in Doha.

The IDF said on Wednesday that it is prepared for a ground operation in Gaza, if necessary.

"All options are on the table," the IDF spokesman said. "If necessary, the IDF is ready to initiate a ground operation in Gaza."

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