Israeli warships shelled Gaza from the sea yesterday as jets continued to bomb Gaza from the air for a third day in an ‘all-out war’ on Hamas.
Tanks remained massed at the Gaza border, and 6,500 Israeli reservists have been called up as the Olmert government prepares a ground invasion in the wake of the past three day’s blitzkrieg.
The Israeli army declared the area a closed military zone and Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the Jewish state was in ‘an all-out war with Hamas and its proxies’.
Defiant Gazan militants fired home-made rockets in retaliation for the raids that have killed at least 318 people.
Anger over the barbaric bombing campaign spiralled in Europe and the Arab world, with mass rallies in Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria.
At least 57 civilians, including children, died yesterday as a result of the Israeli bombardment, a spokesman for the UN Palestinian refugee agency said.
Among the latest deaths were five girls from the same family, aged from four to 17 years old, killed in an air raid that targeted a mosque near their home in Jabaliya, medics said.
In all, the Israeli blitz, unleashed on Saturday has killed at least 318 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,400 others, according to Gaza medics.
Most of the Israeli airstrikes hit Gazans at work, not activists launching rockets as Israel has reported, said Gaza Interior Ministry spokesman Ihab Al-Ghusein in a statement yesterday.
Those killed in government buildings were ministry employees doing their best to help the people of the besieged Gaza Strip, said Al-Ghusein in a Gaza City press conference.
Al-Ghusein confirmed that Gaza will accept any and all aid from Arab states, and urged Egypt to open the Rafah crossing so aid could come into the Strip.
The aid is desperately needed, he added, because Israel has bombed mosques, houses, schools and university campuses.
He called on Palestinians to unite, and promised that no political prisoners from Fatah or any other faction were in government custody.
Those in prison for legitimate criminal reasons have been assured safety, since they are in the central prison.
Gaza police spokesman Islam Shahwan estimated that at least 95 per cent of the security services buildings have been demolished.
He said that nine police officers were killed in Rafah and 29 in Khan Younis, 70 in the central Gaza City districts and 30 in the north.
He said: ‘We call on the entire world to work to put an immediate stop to this aggression.’
In the West Bank, the student council at Hebron University organised a demonstration to condemn Israeli violence against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The demonstration became a clash with Israeli troops and nine students were injured.
Hundreds of students gathered for a press conference on the university campus where student leaders delivered speeches condemning the attacks.
The students called on all Palestinian factions to unify and reconcile so they could best support Gaza in its dark hours.
Demonstrators marched through the streets chanting angry slogans and clashing with the Israeli troops who guard more than 700 settlers living in Hebron’s city centre.
Nine students were injured and dozens of others choked on tear gas fired on them by Israeli troops.
As the rally passed near the illegal Israeli settlements dotting the city centre and south-western outskirts some demonstrators threw stones at the settlement.
Israeli troops opened fire on the demonstrators.
Hebron was observing the second day of a general strike to commemorate and mourn the Gaza dead.
