Gaza: Over 160 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israeli civilians since Saturday by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorist groups. The rocket escalation, which comes in parallel to other tactics and raises concerns that Hamas is trying to drag Israel into a diplomatically costly group war, drew condemnation from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Israeli officials are reportedly considering a variety of options short of a ground war in their efforts to halt the attacks, including the resumption of targeted killings of Hamas leaders and an increase in the tempo of ongoing operations by the Israeli Air Force. Thus far in 2012 896 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza, sending one million residents who live in range into bomb shelters, and political pressure is mounting on Israeli officials to respond forcefully.