Tel Aviv: Israel's offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip entered its sixth day on Thursday with the Israeli air force and navy hitting targets in the salient, as Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was set to fly to Paris for discussions on the crisis.
An Israeli military spokesman said on Thursday morning that the air force and navy had carried out around 20 operations since midnight, hitting, among other targets, the Palestinian Legislative Council building, the Hamas-run ministry of justice, tunnels running under the Gaza-Egyptian border, and a Hamas arms depot.
Militants fired around five missiles and mortars, including Grad missiles which struck the Israeli city of Beersheba. There were no reports of injuries.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said that in Paris Livni would meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon, and would discuss "different ideas about what can be done on the diplomatic level” – but not a French proposal for a 48-hour humanitarian truce in Gaza, which Israel has rejected.
Israeli army ground troops from the engineering and armoured corps, meanwhile, were massing on the Israel-Gaza border, waiting for the order to enter the enclave.
Israel Radio quoted a military official as saying that the ground operation, which is believed imminent, would involve many soldiers, but would be limited in scope.
Arab League chief calls on UN
The head of the Arab League urged the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday to take immediate action to stop Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip.
"We urge the Security Council not to fall under any pressure and take an immediate decision to stop the Israeli attacks on Gaza," said Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa at the opening of an emergency meeting of the body.
Decrying the rising number of Palestinian casualties, Mussa asked, "Which 'magic number' is the Security Council waiting for before it will act to put an end to these attacks?"
The emergency meeting took place as Israeli airstrikes continued for the fifth day against the Islamist Hamas movement, which governs the Gaza Strip. The casualty toll in the densely populated salient has reached almost 390 dead, most of them militants, and 1,800 injured.
Mussa also called upon Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to appeal to the Security Council, which he charged with passively waiting for Israel to strike targets before taking any action.
The Arab League leader also called on the Palestinian factions – largely divided between Gaza and the West Bank – to put their disputes aside and unite.
"Israel's air raids are destroying Gaza, and Israel's settlements are taking over the West Bank," Mussa said.
Mussa further criticised both sides of the conflict, accusing the Israeli government of beginning the offensive to improve its chances ahead of elections, and indirectly criticizing Hamas, saying that there had to be "responsible" resistance.
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