Israel continued its aerial bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip
Tuesday, as international pressure for a ceasefire mounted and Israeli
officials warned operations against the militant group were only just
beginning.
European foreign ministers met Tuesday in Paris,
calling for an end to hostilities and increased access to Gaza
for humanitarian purposes. An Israeli government official said French President
Nicolas Sarkozy is planning to come to Israel
on Monday to try and broker a ceasefire.
Turkey's
prime minister, meanwhile, announced a round of shuttle diplomacy to Arab
capitals to consult on a response to the attacks. The Israeli aerial
bombardment, which began Saturday, has now claimed at least 350 Palestinians,
including 60 civilians, according to United Nations estimates Tuesday.
Israel's
security cabinet meets Wednesday to discuss the military operation, and Israeli
press reports late Tuesday suggested a possible ceasefire would be on the
agenda. The military denied an earlier report that it had recommended a 48-hour
ceasefire, and a government spokesman said he had no knowledge of plans to discuss
a halt to the operation during Wednesday's meeting.
Militants inside the enclave kept up a barrage of attacks Tuesday into southern
Israel and
vowed to send rockets further into the country. Gaza-launched rockets have
killed four Israelis, including one soldier, so far. Late Tuesday, a Hamas
missile hit the Israeli desert town of Bersheba,
expanding the known range of its arsenal.
Despite mounting international pressure for a return to a six-month ceasefire
between the two sides - which ended two weeks ago - Israeli government
spokespeople maintained throughout the day that the time wasn't ripe for talk
of renewing the pact.
"An instant fix that doesn't solve anything isn't a solution. We'll be
back in a month or two months in a round of violence like today," said
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "You need to
create a situation in which Hamas understands that it isn't in their interest
to shoot at innocent Israeli civilians."
Mr. Olmert shrugged off concern growing in Washington and European capitals
about a prolonged war, telling his nation that the operation was still in its
initial stages.
With infantry and armored units massing at the Gaza
border, Israel's
air force launched 40 strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Israeli officials
said they had targeted administrative buildings used by Hamas government
officials, police stations, border tunnels and weapons store houses.
Inside Gaza, eyewitnesses reported
a GazaCity
sports club, two mosques, and the homes of several Hamas militants were also
targeted.
At ShifaHospital,
the Gaza Strip's largest, doctors struggled with shortages of staff and
supplies to provide care for the injured. In the 12-bed intensive care unit
doctors are now tending to 53 critically injured patients, said Haitham
Dababish, the hospital's emergency room director.
"Our medical teams are exhausted and our sources of medical supplies are
running out," Dr. Dababish said. "If we continue like this the whole
system will collapse."
Meanwhile, Palestinian militants lobbed at least 40 missiles into southern
Israeli towns. Hamas has vowed it won't surrender and has promised to continue
missile strikes as well as renew a campaign of suicide attacks.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, one of the few Hamas leaders not in hiding,
urged Palestinians to respond to Israel's
military operation with "all available means."
The Gaza fighting, the worst in
decades, has risked instability spilling over into other countries in the
region. Thousands have demonstrated in Arab capitals, criticizing leaders for
acting too cautiously to halt the attacks.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has angered Arabs across the region for
refusing to open that country's border with Gaza,
said Tuesday the crossing would remain largely shut until the Palestinian
Authority regained control over Gaza.
(Hamas won Palestinian-wide elections in 2006 and then forcefully took control
of Gaza in 2007.) Egypt
allowed a trickle of wounded Palestinians across the border Monday.