Israel in ‘war to the bitter end’ on Hamas

ISRAEL obliterated symbols of Hamas power on the third day of what the defence minister described yesterday as a “war to the bitter end,” striking next to the Hamas premier’s home, and devastating a security compound and a university building.

The three-day death toll rose to at least 350 by yesterday morning, with some 1,400 wounded. The UN said at least 62 of the dead were civilians, and medics said eight children under the age of 17 were killed in two separate strikes overnight.

Israel launched its campaign, the deadliest against Palestinians in decades, on Saturday in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns.

Since then, the number of Israeli troops on the Gaza border has doubled and the cabinet approved the call-up of 6,500 reserve soldiers.

The strikes have driven Hamas leaders into hiding and appear to have gravely damaged the organisation’s ability to launch rockets, but barrages continued. Sirens warning of incoming rockets sent Israelis scrambling for cover throughout the day.

One medium-range rocket fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon killed an Arab construction worker yesterday and wounded several others. He was the second Israeli killed since the beginning of the offensive, and the first person ever to be killed by a rocket in Ashkelon, a city of 120,000.

On Sunday, Hamas missiles struck for the first time near the city of Ashdod, twice as far from Gaza as Ashkelon and only 40km from Israel’s heart in Tel Aviv. Hamas leaders have also threatened to renew suicide attacks inside Israel.

Some Palestinians yesterday ventured outside for mourning. In northern Gaza, a father lifted the body of his 4-year-old during a funeral for five children from the same family killed in an Israeli strike.

Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, told parliament Israel was not fighting the residents of Gaza. “But we have a war to the bitter end against Hamas and its branches,” he said.

Barak said the goal is to deal Hamas a “severe blow” and the operation would be “widened and deepened as needed”. The assault has sparked diplomatic fallout. Syria decided to suspend indirect peace talks with Israel, and the UN Security Council called on both sides to halt the fighting and asked Israel to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Israel opened one of Gaza’s border crossings yesterday.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who heads a moderate government in the West Bank and is holding peace talks with Israel, issued his strongest condemnation of the operation, calling it a “sweeping Israeli aggression against Gaza” and saying he would consult with Hamas in an effort to end it.