Fighting words in the Middle East

Against a backdrop of a barrage of airstrikes on Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing armed groups in Gaza of committing warcrimes.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYING:

"There is no moral symmetry, there is no moral equivalence between Israel and the terrorist organizations in Gaza. The terrorists are committing a double war crime, they fire at Israeli civilians and they hide behind Palestinian civilians and by contrast Israel takes every measure to avoid civilian causalities."

The Hamas leadership is now pledging to escalate the conflict.

Hamas Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum:

(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HAMAS SPOKESMAN FAWZI BARHOUM SAYING:

"They are carrying out a real war, with all what that word means and what it means on the ground. With all the wisdom and unity (the battle) will draw new features for the nature of conflict with the occupation and will draw the ends of this aggression through a rolling and escalating battle."

Earlier Thursday, a Hamas rocket killed three Israelis north of the Gaza Strip, drawing the first blood from Israel as the Palestinian death toll rose to 15 in a military showdown lurching closer to all-out war.