Israel continues onslaught against Hamas

Israel sent more troops to the Gaza border, rapidly moving forward with preparations for a possible ground offensive as the next stage of its military assault on the coastal territory’s Hamas rulers.

Israel rebuffed calls by world leaders for a truce and Hamas was cold to the idea.

Instead, both intensified their fire. Israel bombed a mosque that it said was used to store rockets as well as vital smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border, and the Islamic militants hammered southern Israeli cities with around 60 rockets.

Israeli troops trudged between dozens of tanks in muddy, rain-sodden fields outside of Gaza, assembling equipment, cleaning weapons and scrubbing the insides of tank barrels.

Their commanders moved forward with preparations for a ground operation, said an Israeli defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

Diplomatic efforts by leaders in the United States, Europe and the Middle East appeared to be having little effect.

A French proposal for a 48-hour cease-fire to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza failed to gain traction.

Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said the time was not ripe to consider it.

A separate proposal by Turkey and Egypt, two of Israel’s few allies in the Muslim world, also seemed to be attracting little serious study in Israel or Gaza, where Hamas was also dismissed talk of a truce.

Early today, huge explosions shook Gaza City as Israeli planes bombed three government buildings and the parliament. Hospital officials said 25 wounded were evacuated from nearby houses.

With a shrinking number of targets to hit from the air and top Hamas leaders deep in hiding, a ground operation seemed all the more likely.

In five days of shock-and-awe raids, Israeli warplanes have carried out some 500 sorties against Hamas targets, and helicopters have flown hundreds more combat missions, a senior Israeli military officer said on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

Earlier this week, the government approved the callup of more than 9,000 reserves soldiers. Heavy cloud cover that could encumber ground forces was expected to lift today.

Gaza officials put the casualty toll at more than 390 dead and 1,600 wounded since Saturday. Hamas says some 200 uniformed members of Hamas security forces have been killed, and the UN says at least 60 Palestinian civilians have died.

In Israel, three civilians and a soldier have been killed by rocket fire, which has reached deeper into Israel than ever. The sites of the missile hits have become scenes of curiosity, drawing crowds of onlookers.

Yesterday, people stepped inside a school in the Negev desert city of Beersheba where the evening before a rocket made a direct hit, slamming through the ceiling near the classroom’s blackboard and showering debris on students’ desks.

Standing amid overturned chairs, a visitor illuminated by a shaft of light piercing through the hole in the roof said with some astonishment, “This is my daughter’s seat.”