By Prensa Latina,
Gaza : Israel is bombing Gaza for the fifth consecutive day Wednesday, amid threats to continue its offensive “until the end,” and after having rejected a humanitarian truce proposed by France.
Today’s attacks combined with missiles launched by F-16 fighters and shots by the navy, aimed at destroying civil and government buildings near the west coast.
The Israeli military siege, which has left over 390 people dead so far, included deployment of soldiers and armoured vehicles in an approximately 6.2-mile radius of what Tel Aviv declared a “closed military area.”
The restricted military zone was extended in the last few hours to other border regions, from where civilians and journalists were evicted, a decision that makes one believe a land offensive could be unleashed anytime.
Sources from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) informed today a Palestinian doctor died when his ambulance was hit by an Israeli missile.
Witnesses said the air force destroyed civilian buildings, and underground tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt border frequently used to convey goods due to the Israeli blockade were bombed.
Within the devastated city thousands of Palestinians are hit by cold and the lack of food, electricity and essential services, while hospitals are packed with injured people, now amounting to 1,800, according to latest official reports.
The offensive coincided with the announced Israeli rejection of a 48-hour unilateral humanitarian truce proposed by France, as acting president of the European Union until today.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert affirmed the current offensive is the first of several stages, and the attacks will go on to prevent Islamic activists from reorganizing.