Netanyahu vows more strikes

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) stepped up "Operation Protective Edge" in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, pummeling scores of targets and killing several people. The military announced that it had struck about 200 Hamas targets so far on the second day of its offensive, which it claims to have launched to end rocket attacks out of Gaza.

Some militants, however, have continued to fire salvos deep into Israeli territory, and the IDF has called up some 40,000 reservists ahead of a possible ground operation.

"We have decided to further intensify the attacks on Hamas and the terror organizations in Gaza," Netanyahu's office quoted him as saying on Wednesday, after he had consulted with defense chiefs in the country's south.

Officials from Jordan, which borders both Israel and the Palestinian West Bank, have demanded an "immediate" halt to the air raids on Gaza, saying the IDF's actions had obstructed peace efforts. Iranian officials have called on the international community to "prevent a human catastrophe" in Gaza.

'Provide international protection'

From the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on the UN to "provide international protection for our people." He added that Hamas leaders wanted to "restore calm."

Since "Protective Edge" began Tuesday, Israel has attacked at least 560 sites in Gaza, killing at least 41 people, about 30 of of them civilians, according to emergency workers. Palestinian health officials said the death toll included five children aged 2 to 15. The attacks have wounded about 200 other people.

"We will not stop," Israeli Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitz said on Wednesday. "They'll first receive a hard blow from air and sea, and if a ground invasion is needed, there will be a ground invasion."

Militants have fired more than 200 rockets at Israel, with no reported fatalities, perhaps in part thanks to partial interceptions by the country's Iron Dome anti-missile system, which has downed more than 50 projectiles since Tuesday. One rocket did reach the town of Hadra, 115 kilometers (70 miles) north of Tel Aviv, the farthest such a missile has yet reached.

In an opinion piece published by Israeli newspaper Haaretz and scheduled for reprint in international newspapers, US President Barack Obama wrote that durable peace would come only through a two-state solution: a democratic Israel side-by-side with a viable, independent Palestinian state.

mkg/hc (Reuters,AFP, dpa, AP)