| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
GAZA CITY - Heavy Israeli artillery on Saturday bombarded the Gaza Strip in an escalation of its war on Hamas while jets staged dozens of air strikes, with one killing 16 people in a mosque.
Thousands of Israeli troops and tanks encircled Gaza as Howitzer guns fired shells across the border. F-16 jets roared into the Palestinian enclave where at least 460 people have been killed in eight days of attacks.
Militants in Gaza fired more rockets into Israel, slightly wounding three people, and the Hamas leader threatened a "black destiny" for Israel if it launched a threatened ground offensive.
However in one of the most deadly strikes of the campaign, an Israeli jet fired on a mosque in the northern town of Jabaliya, killing at least 16 people among more than 200 people praying, medics and witnesses said.
Four children -- two brothers, aged 10 and 12 and two cousins under 16 -- were among the dead at the Ibrahim al-Maqadna mosque, medics said.
Dozens of injured were dragged from the rubble.
Two Hamas military commanders were also killed in air raids as pressure mounted on the Islamist movement.
One was Mohammad al-Jammal, who Gaza sources said was a Hamas military commander. Israel said he ran "the entire rocket launching enterprise" in Gaza City.
Another missile hit a car near the southern city of Khan Yunis killing two men, including Mohammed Ma'aruf, senior Hamas military commander in southern Gaza, medics and security sources said.
Their deaths came only two days after an Israeli missile killed top Hamas leader Nizar Rayyan.
A school in northern Gaza was demolished and a guard killed. Israel said it was used for firing rockets.
The Israeli artillery shelling through up huge plumes of smoke from fields on the Gazan side of the 60 kilometre (37 mile) long border. Israel frequently uses the tactic before a ground incursions but the army made no immediate comment on the operation.
Israel has staged nearly 800 air raids against Hamas leaders and targets which have included mosques and schools since launching "Operation Cast Lead" on December 27. Gaza medics say 463 Palestinians have been killed -- including 75 children -- and 2,310 wounded.
Four people have been killed in Israeli by more than 500 rockets fired from Gaza over the same time.
Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal warned Israel on Friday of a "black destiny" if it invaded. But US leaders have given their key Middle East ally free rein to begin a ground operation to end the rocket fire.
In his weekly radio address, President George W. Bush called on Hamas "to turn away from terror, and to support legitimate Palestinian leaders working for peace."
Bush rejected calls for a unilateral ceasefire that he said would allow the Islamists to continue hitting Israel with rocket fire.
Amid widespread calls for a ceasefire and demonstrations around the world, there is mounting concern over the humanitarian impact of the Israeli operation.
UN agencies have said there is a "critical" emergency in the territory, where 80 percent of the 1.5 million population relies on international food aid.
Up to 100,000 Arab-Israelis attended one rally in Israel and tens of thousands attended demonstrations against the conflict in London, Paris and other European cities.
European leaders have pressed for a halt to the offensive and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to halt military action, Brown's office said.
"The prime minister has spoken again today to Prime Minister Olmert, and is pressing hard for an immediate ceasefire," a British statement said.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was to meet French President counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in Ramallah on Monday. He was then to travel to New York to appeal for a ceasefire at the UN Security Council.
Jordan's King Abdullah II told Quartet Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair on Saturday that the world's "silence" on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was unacceptable, the palace said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday met Iran's Supreme National Security Council chief Saeed Jalili to discuss the Gaza crisis, Syria's official news agency reported. He also spoke with Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev.
Jalili also met the Hamas leader Meshaal and Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah on Friday, a Palestinian source said.
Israel has kept Gaza virtually sealed off since Hamas seized power there in June 2007 from Fatah forces loyal to Abbas.
- AFP /ls
|
