A rocket attack from Gaza at the heart of a major Israeli city, occurring just as President Bush launched a three-day visit to celebrate the Jewish state’s 60th anniversary, may signify a major escalation in the intensifying regional confrontation between pro-American countries and Iranian-backed Islamist forces.

The attack occurred yesterday shortly before Mr. Bush and other world leaders gathered in Jerusalem for a conference organized by the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, as a gesture toward American presidents. Mr. Bush, who is expected to address the Knesset today, said his source of optimism for change in the region is Israel’s strong democracy. “What happened here can happen everywhere,” he said, adding that America and Israel will explore ways to advance “our next 60 years of partnership with confidence and with hope.”

“The Zionist regime is dying,” President Ahmadinejad countered in northern Iran, according to the Associated Press. “The criminals assume that by holding celebrations,” he added, “they can save the sinister Zionist regime from death and annihilation.”

The midrange rocket, shot from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, directly hit a medical clinic at a busy shopping mall in the southern city of Ashkelon, injuring at least 14 people, including babies. At least three among the people who were hospitalized yesterday were described in critical condition by the city’s Barzilai Hospital spokesmen.

Hamas and its allies have hit small border towns near Gaza for years, using inaccurate Kassam rockets that at times exact casualties. This week two Israelis were killed in Sderot and Kibbutz Kfar Aza. But in yesterday’s attack on Ashkelon, which is farther away from the border than those towns, more accurate Grad missiles were used, indicating that Iran’s efforts to arm Hamas are intensifying, and raising speculations about new Israeli plans for a major assault on Gaza.

Arriving at Prime Minister Olmert’s residence, Mr. Bush said America’s role in the region is to “stand with democracies and to stand strong against terrorists – whether it be to stand with Israel against the existential threat of a nuclear weapon with Iran, or whether it be to stand with the Siniora government” in Lebanon.

After leaving Israel tomorrow, Mr. Bush plans to meet in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt, with several regional leaders, including President Mubarak, President Karzai, President Abbas, Prime Minster Fayyad, King Abdullah of Jordan, and Iraqi leaders. Rather than an Israeli-Palestinian Arab peace summit – as was envisioned earlier on as Mr. Bush has planned his trip – this gathering was seen as a consolidation of the American-backed regional leaders to confront Iran’s growing influence.

In Israel, fingers were immediately pointed at Iran as the power behind the attack on Ashkelon. Regardless of claims by Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees, Israeli officials said Hamas was ultimately responsible, pointing to the fact that the Soviet-era Grad rocket used in the attack was upgraded in Iran.

“The Iranian hand is clearly visible,” a senior Jerusalem government official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The New York Sun. “Iran actively supports Hamas by training, financing, supplying logistical aid, and sending weaponry and ammunition to Gaza. There is one force in the north – Hezbollah in Lebanon – and one in the south, Hamas. We look at both as arms of Iran.”

In his meeting with Mr. Olmert, Mr. Bush described last week’s events in Lebanon as an “Iranian effort to destabilize that young democracy,” and promised support for Prime Minister Siniora’s government. He added that “Hamas’s objective, stated objective is the destruction of the state of Israel. And therefore the United States will stand strongly with Israel, as well as stand strongly with the Palestinians who don’t share that vision.”

While Mr. Bush did not directly address the Ashkelon attack, Mr. Olmert vowed to take the “necessary steps” to address the “intolerable” assault. “The government of Israel is committed to stop” such attacks, he said. Defense Minister Ehud Barak reportedly briefed Secretary of State Rice on the situation and offered to conduct a tour of Ashkelon today. Ms. Rice did not immediately respond to the offer, according to Ynet.

The Israel Defense Force chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, has made up his mind in the last few days to launch a major attack deep in the Gaza Strip, Ma’ariv reported. Politicians are now expected to line up behind the idea, which has long been contemplated by the army. Two cabinet members, the internal security minister, Avi Dichter, who is a resident of Ashkelon, and Mr. Olmert’s deputy Eli Yishai, decided to forgo yesterday’s cocktail reception for Mr. Bush and other foreign dignitaries, saying they should be in Ashkelon instead.

Israel, meanwhile, wrote U.N. Secretary General Ban and the president of the Security Council to complain about the attack. Mr. Ban declined to issue a statement about it yesterday. The prime minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, said his government planned to take President Ahmadinejad to the Hague-based International Court of Justice for inciting violence against Israel, according to Bloomberg. “Did he also address Israel’s threats against us?” an Iranian diplomat said, asking his name not be used.