Israeli forces pushed into the Gaza Strip's most populous area today, killing at least 31 Palestinians on the 16th day of a devastating offensive Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said was close to achieving its aims.
An Israeli military spokesman said army reservists, held back until now, had been thrown into the battle.
"We have begun to integrate reservist forces into the action in the Gaza Strip," Avi Benayahu said on Israel's Channel 2 TV. "We aren't acting in panic, but cautiously."
Thick black smoke rose over the city of Gaza as fighting raged on in the Hamas-ruled territory in defiance of a UN Security Council demand for a ceasefire. Medical workers said about half the Palestinians killed on Sunday were civilians.
"Israel is getting close to achieving the goals it set for itself," Olmert told his cabinet in Jerusalem.
"But patience, determination and effort are still needed to realise these goals in a manner that will change the security situation in the south," Olmert said, referring to Israeli towns where life has been disrupted by Hamas rocket salvoes.
On the usually quiet Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, shots were fired from Syria at Israeli army engineers working on the frontier fence, but no one was hurt and it was not immediately clear who was responsible, an Israeli military spokesman said.
Backed by helicopter gunships, Israeli tanks pushed into eastern and southern parts of the city of Gaza, attacking Hamas militants who fired anti-armour missiles and mortar bombs.
At the edge of the city, Mahmoud Abu Hasseera surveyed the rubble of his house, in an area where Israeli tanks and infantry had battled Palestinian fighters hours earlier.
"Where should we and our children go to sleep? To the streets?" he asked. "We have no mattresses, blankets, cooking gas, food or water. Everything was destroyed."
The Palestinian death toll since Israel's offensive began on December 27th stands at 876, many of them civilians, Gaza medical officials said. More than 3,000 Palestinians have been wounded.
Thirteen Israelis -- three civilians hit by rocket fire and 10 soldiers -- have been killed, Israel says.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said his ruling Islamist group would not consider a ceasefire until Israel ended its air, sea and ground assault and lifted its blockade of Gaza. A Hamas delegation held talks in Cairo on an Egyptian truce plan.
Israel, which has rejected as unworkable the UN ceasefire resolution adopted last week, wants a halt to rocket attacks and measures to prevent Hamas from rearming through tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border. An Israeli defence official was to visit
Egypt tomorrow to press for tougher anti-smuggling measures.
Reuters