Airstrike kills a top Hamas leader

An Israeli warplane dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on the home of one of Hamas' top five decision-makers Thursday, instantly killing him and 18 others, while the Israeli army said troops massed on the Gaza border were ready for any order to invade.

The airstrike on Nizar Rayan was the first that succeeded in killing a member of Hamas' highest echelon since Israel began its offensive Saturday.
The 49-year-old professor of Islamic law was known for personally participating in clashes with Israeli forces and for sending one of his sons on a 2001 suicide mission that killed two Israelis.

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Granted the Israeli response to the mortars lobbed into Israel is a bit over the top but when both sides of a disagreement have those on its faction as whacked as Rayan was (sending his own son to commit suicide - is proof enough of his mental instability) nothing will get accomplished and 'over the top' responses beget even 'more over the top' responses.
And the Israelis are not without their own whackos as well.

Why can not the stable and rational take the lead in the region? Letting the unstable and the irrational take the lead never works - just look at the mess the USA is in after 8 years of the unstable and irrational being 'in charge'.