Israel draws up plan for Gaza ground attack as mob violence spreads

Drafts being prepared for senior Israeli military figures and politicians to consider

Israel's military is drafting a plan for a possible ground operation in Gaza, as it presses ahead with a fierce air offensive on the enclave and as Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, fires volleys of rockets deep into Israel.

Meanwhile, racist mob attacks have continued to spread through Israel in the worst Arab-Jewish chaos for years. Overnight on Wednesday, far-right Jewish mobs took to the streets across the country searching for Arabs, while there were reports of attempted shootings as Palestinian citizens of Israel clashed with police.