Israel has called up thousands of reserve soldiers for a possible ground invasion as it widened its deadliest-ever air offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

GAZA’S deeply entrenched Hamas rulers won’t be easily toppled, even by Israel’s unprecedented bombings on Saturday that killed more than 280 people, most of them men in Hamas uniform.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II told an Israeli newspaper today that his country wants its own nuclear programme.

A slip of the tongue by prime minister Ehud Olmert about Israel’s nuclear policy ballooned into a domestic crisis today for the already embattled Israeli leader.

The UN ceasefire deal announced today will buy temporary calm, but make the next war between Israel and Tehran’s proxy army inevitable, former Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom and some military analysts warned.