Israel strikes deeper into Gaza
Hamas continues firing rockets. One penetrates farther north into Israel than any previously launched. Israel attacks with troops, tanks, warships. More than 575 Palestinians have been killed.
Reporting from Cairo and Gaza — Israeli forces pounded deeper into the Gaza Strip today as a Hamas rocket struck farther north into Israel than any previously fired and street battles showed no signs of ebbing. The violence continued despite renewed calls by Arab and European diplomats for the United Nations Security Council to demand a cease-fire.
Israeli warships battered the coast as troops and tanks, after intense fighting around Gaza City, pushed south to Khan Younis, where skirmishes with militants rattled throughout the day. A Hamas rocket exploded at the entrance of a house and injured a baby in the Israeli town of Gedera, about 25 miles northeast of Gaza and the closest the group has come to Tel Aviv.
Palestinian medical authorities reported that shelling from Israeli ships killed at least 10 people and injured 20 others at the Deir al-Balah refugee camp. Air strikes on the camp also killed a father and his three sons. The United Nations said one of its schools, which had been closed, was hit by an Israeli missile, killing three Palestinians who had taken shelter inside.
Israel has said the goal of its campaign is to end Hamas' use of rockets against Israeli cities. Although the number of rockets has decreased, at least 15 were fired today, and the Islamic militant group Al-Qassam Brigades announced that one of its suicide bombers exploded near an Israeli tank.
The death toll climbed. More than 575 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its offensive with air assaults on Dec. 27, according to Gaza hospital authorities. The U.N. says about 25% of the victims are civilians. Israel announced that another soldier was killed by one of its own tanks. So far, five Israeli soldiers, including four hit by friendly fire, have died, and four Israeli civilians have been killed by rockets.
"I want to tell the world's leaders something: You are not to sleep, eat or drink until you stop the killing of innocent people in the Gaza Strip," said John Ging, the United Nations' senior official in Gaza, adding that 1 million Palestinians were without electricity and 700,000 without water. "There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone is terrorized and traumatized."
Arab foreign ministers and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas traveled to the United Nations to urge the Security Council to pass a cease-fire resolution. Carrying a U.S.-backed truce plan, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed for New York for this afternoon's session.
