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Add an EventGaza death toll tops 300 as Israel vows to fight to bitter end
The Israeli military said it struck dozens more targets including buildings used for storing and manufacturing weapons, and that naval vessels had also bombarded targets from the sea.
Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, said the military was fighting a "war to the bitter end" against Hamas.
Earlier today the Israeli army declared areas around Gaza a "closed military zone", citing the risk from Palestinian rocket fire, and ordering journalists observing the build-up of armoured forces to leave. The move comes after the Israeli military deployed tanks close to the border, and could be another sign that a major ground invasion is being considered.
Palestinian officials said the death toll since the Israeli bombing began on Saturday had risen to at least 314, with as many as 1,400 others injured. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said at least 57 of the dead were civilians. It based the figure, which an UNRWA spokesman called "conservative", on visits by agency officials to hospitals and medical centres.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/29/gaza-israel-attack
Israel's military is in an "all-out war" with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Ehud Barak, the defence minister, says.
Palestinian medical sources say at least 345 Gazans have been killed and another 1,450 wounded in three consecutive days of Israeli bombardment in the heavily-populated territory.
"We have nothing against Gaza residents, but we are engaged in an all-out war against Hamas and its proxies," Barak said on Monday.
There were also growing fears that a ground offensive was being planned after Israel declared a "closed military zone" around the Gaza Strip.
Israel says the creation of a buffer zone along the border will help protect it from rocket attacks.
Civilians, including journalists, could be banned from an area between 2km and 4km deep under the policy. On previous occasions, such a move has sometimes been followed by military operations.
"This operation will expand and deepen as much as needed," Barak said. "We went to war to deal a heavy blow to Hamas, to change the situation in the south."
Trapped Palestinians
Tanks and troops have been massed in the area since the attacks, referred to by the Israeli military as Operation Cast Lead, was launched on Saturday.
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"I was having my dinner when I heard the missile's whistle," a helpless Abu-Fatahi told IslamOnline.net from his bed at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
In just seconds, the missile hit his family's house in the Dir Al-Balah City, razing it to the ground.
"I flew in the sky and then I found myself lying on the floor at our neighbors' house," he recalled the harrowing moments with tears flashing in his eyes.
Abu-Fatahi can't remember what happened next.
He woke up with head injuries. It was later that he knew that all his 15 family members who were in the house were also hospitalized.
"All my family members were hit."
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