GAZA (Reuters) - The civilian death toll climbed in Israel's air offensive against the Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinian Islamists vowed revenge for the killing of a senior Hamas leader and his family. There was no sign of a ceasefire on the seventh day of the conflict, in which at least 425 Palestinians have been killed and 2,000 wounded, but a Palestinian official told Reuters that Egypt had begun exploratory talks with Hamas to halt the bloodshed. The senior Palestinian official, who declined to be named and who has been close to previous talks between Egypt and Hamas, said the aim of the talks included promoting ideas that would culminate in a new truce. Four Israeli civilians have been killed by Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza, which strike southern cities and towns at random and cause property damage and panic among the local population.
GAZA (Reuters) - The civilian death toll climbed in Israel's air offensive against the Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinian Islamists vowed revenge for the killing of a senior Hamas leader and his family.
There was no sign of a ceasefire on the seventh day of the conflict, in which at least 425 Palestinians have been killed and 2,000 wounded, but a Palestinian official told Reuters that Egypt had begun exploratory talks with Hamas to halt the bloodshed.
The senior Palestinian official, who declined to be named and who has been close to previous talks between Egypt and Hamas, said the aim of the talks included promoting ideas that would culminate in a new truce.
Four Israeli civilians have been killed by Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza, which strike southern cities and towns at random and cause property damage and panic among the local population.
Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. is seeking a "durable and sustainable" cease-fire between Israel and Hamas amid fresh attacks and growing casualties. "We are working toward a cease-fire that wouldn't allow a re-establishment of the status quo," one that would prevent Hamas from launching rockets at Israel from Gaza, Rice told reporters at the White House after briefing President George W. Bush. "I have no plans at this point" to go to the Middle East to help broker a cease-fire, Rice said.
Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. is seeking a "durable and sustainable" cease-fire between Israel and Hamas amid fresh attacks and growing casualties.
"We are working toward a cease-fire that wouldn't allow a re-establishment of the status quo," one that would prevent Hamas from launching rockets at Israel from Gaza, Rice told reporters at the White House after briefing President George W. Bush.
"I have no plans at this point" to go to the Middle East to help broker a cease-fire, Rice said.
Let us be grateful for small mercies keep to the Fen Causeway
The UN has warned that Palestinians in Gaza are facing a serious health and food crisis, as Israeli air strikes continued for a seventh day. The "critical emergency" comes despite an increase in humanitarian shipments, said Maxwell Gaylard, the UN's chief aid co-ordinator for the territory. The UN believes that at least 100 of some 400 Palestinians killed by Israeli action so far were civilians. Israel said Gazans were continuing to receive sufficient food and medicines.
The UN has warned that Palestinians in Gaza are facing a serious health and food crisis, as Israeli air strikes continued for a seventh day.
The "critical emergency" comes despite an increase in humanitarian shipments, said Maxwell Gaylard, the UN's chief aid co-ordinator for the territory.
The UN believes that at least 100 of some 400 Palestinians killed by Israeli action so far were civilians.
Israel said Gazans were continuing to receive sufficient food and medicines.
The UN has warned that Palestinians in Gaza are facing a serious health and food crisis, as Israeli air strikes continued for a seventh straight day. The UN's chief aid co-ordinator for the territory, Maxwell Gaylard, said the "critical emergency" comes despite an increase in humanitarian shipments. Israel said people in Gaza were continuing to receive sufficient food and medicines.
