After 10 days of an aerial campaign by Operation Protective Edge to stop the rain of missiles into Israel from Gaza, Israeli officials said a ground campaign has been launched in Gaza to destroy militant infrastructure such as tunnels, but not with the intent to topple Hamas. Israeli forces used a Patriot missile to shoot down a Hamas drone over Ashkelon. Israeli bombardments of militant targets in Gaza resumed after a brief ceasefire was broken by Hamas rockets fired into Israel. Three suspects in the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian youth in Jerusalem appeared in court; Israeli officials called the brutal murder a “terrorist act.”
