The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, vowed yesterday to expand an offensive in Gaza that has killed 55 Palestinians until militants stop firing rockets into Israel.
Militants fired another rocket into Israel yesterday in a campaign that has fuelled criticism within Israel of Mr Sharon's plan to pull out of Gaza. It caused no casualties and Israeli troops killed the militants as they tried to flee in a donkey cart.
The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, urged Israel to halt its four-day-old raid, saying many Palestinian civilians had been killed. He called on Palestinian leaders to stop the rockets.
"The Secretary-General calls on the government of Israel to halt its military incursions into the Gaza Strip, which have led to the deaths of scores of Palestinians, among them many civilians, including children," Mr Annan said in a statement.
Mr Sharon, pursuing one of the biggest and bloodiest operations in four years of conflict, needs to show he can stop the rocket strikes, like the one that killed two Israeli children last Wednesday to counter rightists who say that evacuating troops and Jewish settlers from Gaza will encourage more attacks.
Nearly 200 tanks and armoured vehicles have seized 9 square kilometres of the northern strip and pushed deep into the Jabalya refugee camp, a militant hotbed. Other tanks moved into nearby Beit Hanoun, according to witnesses.
Mr Sharon told Army Radio the army would expand the "buffer zone" in northern Gaza to spare Israeli towns from rocket attacks and ensure there was no withdrawal under fire next year.
Israel's army chief said the operation could last weeks.
The latest casualties brought the Palestinian death toll to 55, at least 34 of them militants. Three Israelis have been killed, two soldiers and a woman jogger.
Armoured bulldozers demolished homes, citrus orchards, a clothing factory and a kindergarten in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses said. The army says it is destroying cover used for firing rockets. Palestinians call it collective punishment.
Israeli troops killed three militants from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group early yesterday. The army said it opened fire when it saw the men planting a bomb. Another militant was shot dead in Jabalya.
Medics said a 13-year-old boy died of wounds after being shot in Jabalya. The army was checking the report. Palestinian witnesses said a deaf man was shot dead on his balcony. The army claimed he was suspected of being a spotter for the militants.
Militant factions have vowed to drive back Israel's offensive and fire rockets deeper into Israel.
Addressing the area under siege by radio, the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, urged people to stand firm "against those racists, barbarians and criminals". But his leadership has signalled that militants should stop rocket attacks to avoid "giving the Israelis a pretext".