Israel carries out 'dozens' of night airstrikes on Gaza

Last Updated: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:01:00 +1100

Witnesses and Hamas sources in the Gaza Strip say Israeli warplanes have carried out dozens of night-time air strikes, targeting ministry buildings and security service installations.

The director of Gaza's emergency services say at least 10 more Palestinians were killed and 40 injured. Earlier, United Nations staff said the death toll had reached 320, with more than 1,400 injured.

Egypt has allowed some trucks laden with medical aid to enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, and Israel has also been letting some relief supplies through.

Despite the arrival of some humanitarian aid, crucial medical supplies are still running short and Gaza's hospitals are overwhelmed. The UN official in charge of humanitarian affairs, John Holmes, says much more is needed.

"These supplies are better than nothing but they remain wholly inadequate," he said.

"It's vital that these crossings remain open, whatever the level of violence, and we'll be looking to Israel to uphold the promises it's made in this regard in the coming days, whatever the level of violence might be."

A number of world leaders have urged Israel to cease its attacks immediately.

Australian acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the government is deeply disturbed by the resumption of violence in the region.

"We unreservedly condemn the shelling of southern Israel by Hamas and other militant groups and whilst we recognise Israel's right to defend itself we strongly support the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate halt to all violence," she told the ABC.

Entire Hamas government being targeted

Earlier, a senior Israeli military officer said Israel was striking at the entire Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli military's deputy chief of staff Brigadier General Dan Harel said not single Hamas building would be left standing in Gaza when the attack was over.

"After this operation there will not be a single Hamas building left standing in Gaza, and we plan to change the rules of the game," he told the YNet News website.

"We are hitting not only terrorists and launchers, but also the whole Hamas Government and all its wings."

As air attacks continued on Monday, Israel defended its actions and blamed Hamas for using civilians as human shields.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said Israel is in an "all-out war against Hamas and its kind."

But UN aid workers say they are deeply worried about the risks to civilians as the air strikes continue.

Gaza medics say at least a dozen civilians were killed in several Israeli raids on Monday, including about six who died in an air strike on on the home of a senior Hamas militant in northern Gaza.

As bad weather closed in on Gaza on Monday night, making operations more difficult for Israeli aircraft, Palestinian militants fired more rocket salvos across the border, killing three Israeli civilians.

One Arab-Israeli man was killed and another eight people wounded, three seriously, when a rocket hit a building site in the southern city of Ashkelon.

The second fatality was at the Nahal Oz kibbutz just north of the border with the Gaza Strip, medics said, while an Israeli woman died of wounds received after a rocket hit a railyard in the town of Ashdod.

The armed wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for the Ashkelon attack, saying it had fired "three Grad-type rockets".

Military build-up

The Israeli Government has banned foreign journalists from entering Gaza and declared the region around the territory a "closed military zone".

Tanks and other ground forces remain poised on the border for a possible ground invasion.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon says he is "deeply alarmed" by the escalation of violence and has condemned both the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel and the Israeli air strikes.

"Both Israel and Hamas must halt their acts of violence and take all necessary measures to avoid civilian casualties," he said.

The White House says the US wants a "sustainable" ceasefire in Gaza and insists that the onus is on Hamas to first stop its rocket attacks on Israel.

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