The two-day death toll in Gaza rose Sunday to an estimated 300,
the largest in more than 40 years, as an angry Tel Aviv retaliated
with airstrikes against days of steady bombardments on the Jewish
nation by Hamas militants in Gaza.
The possibility of a full-out ground operation rose as Israel's
cabinet approved plans to call up more than 6,000 reservists.
Militants in the Gaza Strip launched 40 rockets and mortars at
Israel on Sunday alone, bringing to around 300 the number fired since
a six- month truce between Israel and the Gazan militias ended
December 19.
The Palestinian death toll was described as the highest over such
a brief period since the 1967 Six-Day war.
Despite massive protests across the Arab world in Yemen, Jordan,
Iran, Syria and Lebanon, the Arab League postponed its 'emergency'
meeting until Wednesday to discuss the situation. Anti-Israel
demonstrators also gathered in London and Chicago.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, criticized Arab
leaders for keeping silent and called for them to stop what he called
Zionist (Israeli) wolves from committing 'further crimes' against
Palestinians in Gaza.
In an interview with CNN, Israel's ambassador to the United States
Sallai Meridor charged that Iran was the 'center of an octopus' that
was determined to undermine democracy in the region using its
proxies like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The United Nations top human rights expert, Navi Pillay, said she
'strongly condemned Israel's disproportionate use of force' in Gaza
but also condemned Hamas rocket fire which killed one Israeli
civilian.
Early Sunday, the United Nations Security Council called for an
immediate end to all military actions in the Gaza Strip, after a
four-hour emergency meeting.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN's secretary-general, called for a
halt to the violence, as have officials in India, the Vatican, the
United States and elsewhere.
In an immediate fall-out on peace efforts in the region, Syria
indicated it would suspend indirect peace talks with Israel that were
expected to lead to direct talks. Over the last couple of months,
Turkey has been acting as a mediator for indirect talks.
The Israel Air Force kept up its attacks on the enclave,
hitting, among other targets, the narrow strip of open land between
Gaza and Sinai, under which Palestinians have dug scores of tunnels
for smuggling. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the attack
destroyed 40 tunnels. Two people died in the strike.
The attack sent hundreds of people who were working on the tunnels
scurrying across the Egyptian border, only to be turned back by
Egyptian security guards who opened fire on them.
Some 24 people were killed earlier Sunday when Israeli
aircraft bombed Gaza City's main security compound, which houses a
central prison and several security force headquarters. Many of the
dead were jailed members of Hamas' rival Fatah movement.
The deaths brought to over 300 the number of people, more than
half of them militants, killed in the Israeli operation which began
Saturday in response to massive rocket barrages on southern Israel.
More than 900 people have been wounded.
Israel launched more than 30 attacks on Gaza on Sunday, after it
hit more than 100 targets when the offensive began Saturday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' bitter political
rival, said he had contacted the Islamist organization and
urged its leaders to maintain the truce with Israel in order to
prevent a crisis.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit accused Hamas
Sunday of preventing casualties from entering Egypt for treatment.
Israel officials said any decision to send in the armour and foot-
soldiers would be made later, but there were reports that tanks and
armoured personnel carriers were taking up positions along the
border.
In another sign that the operation could be lengthy, the
government approved plans to operate a 'special situation' status for
communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip which allows for local
authorities to close down factories or keep people in their
homes.
Also Sunday, Israel opened the Kerem Shalom crossing point on the
south-eastern edge of the Gaza Strip to allow 30 trucks carrying 160
tonnes of flour and medicines to enter the enclave.
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