GAZA POUNDED AS THE DEATH TOLL HITS 510

Have we lost our humanity?

Gaza pounded as the death toll hits 510

Israeli tanks roll towards Gaza city

By Nidal al-Mughrabi
Monday January 05 2009
Israeli troops and tanks have surrounded Gaza's main city in an offensive against Hamas that has killed 510 and left some 2,500 wounded.
Israeli tanks poured shells and machine gun-fire into suspected militant positions and war planes struck as Hamas fighters fought back with mortars and rockets.
Hamas kept up rocket attacks against southern Israel, defying efforts by the Middle East's most powerful army to achieve Israeli leaders' declared aim of removing the threat of cross-border salvoes.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a phone call that Israel would continue to allow in aid supplies to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Sarkozy was due to arrive in Jerusalem today to push for a truce.
EU foreign policy chiefs launched a mission to seek a ceasefire in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip but acknowledged they faced a difficult task.
Israeli President Shimon Peres rejected the possibility of a ceasefire but said Israel did not intend to occupy Gaza.
Israel has accused Hamas of using civilians in the Gaza Strip as "human shields", saying the Islamist group has been firing rockets from densely populated areas and storing weapons in homes and mosques.
Medics said three Palestinian rescue workers were killed by Israeli fire yesterday, raising to seven the total number of medical staff who have died in nine days of bloodshed.
Refuge
Saturday night's invasion of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip followed a week of Israeli bombardments from land, sea and air -- the most serious Israeli-Palestinian fighting in decades.
Palestinians said soldiers moved deep into Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip and asked residents to leave their homes to avoid being hurt in the fighting. Some families sought refuge in UN-run schools in neighbouring Beit Hanoun.
Gaza medical officials said the total Palestinian death toll has risen to 512. A UN agency said at least a quarter of the dead were civilians. A Palestinian human rights group put the figure at 40pc.
One Israeli soldier was killed and 32 were wounded in the ground offensive, Israel said. Four Israelis have been killed by the Hamas rocket strikes since December 27.
Calls for a ceasefire from the United States, Israel's main backer, other governments and the United Nations failed to gain traction over disagreements about who should stop firing first.
Heavy civilian casualties in the territory packed with 1.5 million people could increase international pressure on Israel.
But the fighting also holds political risks for Israeli leaders before a February 10 election, especially if its forces take heavy casualties in street fighting.
- Nidal al-Mughrabi