GAZA—Israeli aircraft struck new targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing two militants, after the government vowed to press home an offensive despite appeals from Washington and elsewhere for an end to violence.
Four workshops and an office used by Hamas were blasted overnight, said officials of the Palestinian Islamist movement, which seized control of Gaza last June by routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's forces. Two groups of fighters from militant organisations were also struck by missiles. In each attack, one man was killed and several wounded, medics and Hamas officials said.
"There were a number of aerial attacks on weapons manufacturing facilities," an Israeli army spokesman said.
Israel says it is targeting sites where Hamas and its allies make, store and fire the rockets which have disrupted life in Israeli border towns over the past year and more. One rocket killed an Israeli civilian on Wednesday, the first since May.
A total of 107 people have been killed since Wednesday. Among these have been up to 60 civilians, including women and children, provoking an outcry from Palestinians and fellow Arabs and condemnation at the United Nations and elsewhere.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday he was suspending peace talks with Israel. Washington promptly urged an end to violence and a resumption of the negotiations launched recently under the sponsorship of President George W. Bush.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive for previously scheduled talks with Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday. But, after 25 more rockets landed on Sunday, Israel said it would continue its offensive.
"We're encouraging Israel to exercise caution to avoid the loss of innocent life," said a U.S. State Department spokesman after Rice spoke to Abbas, who has vowed not to resume negotiations until Israel halted its offensive.
Bush, among Israel's staunchest allies during his presidency, has pledged to try and forge a deal on Palestinian statehood before he steps down in January. His spokesman said: "The violence needs to stop and the talks need to resume."
But Defence Minister Ehud Barak made clear the offensive would go on: "It is time for action. The operation continues. Hamas is responsible and will pay the price ... We will deploy force to change the situation -- and we will change it."
Self-Defense
On Saturday, 61 people including 30 civilians were killed in the bloodiest day for Palestinians since their 1980s uprising.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused Israel of using "excessive force" and also demanded Hamas stop firing rockets.
Olmert told his cabinet: "Israel is interested in negotiations -- but not at the price of giving up our right to protect Israeli citizens."
Six Israeli civilians were wounded on Sunday when the 25 rockets hit border towns. Two soldiers were also wounded, the army said.
On Saturday, two soldiers were killed and seven wounded.
Hamas says it fires rockets in self-defence and that it would stop if Israel halted all military activity in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and ended its embargo on the Gaza Strip.
Areas used by militants to launch rockets have seen fierce battles between hundreds of Israeli troops backed by tanks and Palestinian gunmen who have laid ambushes for advancing units.
Many of the civilian casualties have come when Israeli missiles fired by helicopters, jets and unmanned drones have hit buildings and homes that the army said were used by militants.
Amid anti-Israeli demonstrations in the West Bank, Israeli troops shot dead a youth near Hebron, witnesses said.
There has been popular sympathy for Gazans in the Arab world but restraint from Arab governments wary of Hamas's militancy and links to non-Arab Iran. However, Saudi Arabia said on Sunday Israel was emulating "Nazi war crimes."
Egypt opened its border crossing with Gaza, which has been sealed off as part of Israel's efforts to blockade Hamas, to let some 40 wounded Palestinians receive care in Egyptian hospitals.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Muslims to strike back and criticised arch-foe Washington for backing the Jewish state.
Olmert has been under pressure from some in his coalition to launch a broader offensive in the Gaza Strip, especially after militants began firing longer-range Katyusha rockets at Ashkelon, a city of 120,000. One hit a house there on Sunday.
But Israeli officials have spoken publicly of the heavy loss of life such a ground campaign could cause on both sides.
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