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Air force bombs mosque used for rocket attacks By Yoav Stern, Avi Issacharoff and Barak Ravid The Israel Air Force continued its bombing of Gaza Strip targets yesterday, reporting it hit 25 terror-related targets including the offices of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and a mosque in the city of Gaza where Hamas activists were hiding. Rockets had also been fired at Israel from the mosque. Palestinian militants fired about 70 rockets and mortar shells from the Gaza Strip at Israel yesterday, hitting Be'er Sheva and Ashkelon among other targets. Advertisement Five Israelis were injured in the attacks. At least six Palestinians were killed yesterday in the Israeli attacks including a Palestinian doctor and medic. Until now, 395 Palestinians have been killed in Operation Cast Lead and 1,600 injured. The Philadelphi route along the Egyptian border was bombed again yesterday in a further attempt to destroy the tunnels used by Hamas for smuggling weapons into Gaza from Egypt. Defense Minister Ehud Barak extended the area under special emergency regulations to up to 40 kilometers from the Gaza border, including the cities of Be'er Sheva, Yavne and Gedera. Barak's declaration gives local authorities emergency powers and requires residents to follow the Home Front Command's orders. The head of the Shin Bet security service, Yuval Diskin, has told the security cabinet that many Hamas activists are hiding in hospitals and some of them have even disguised themselves as doctors and nurses. Others are hiding with their weapons in mosques, assuming Israel will not attack religious buildings. Hamas is also trying to smuggle gunmen out to Egypt through the tunnels, said Diskin. He added that all Hamas weapons factories have been destroyed, as well as dozens of tunnels. Shin Bet and IDF officials told the ministers that of the 390 dead in Gaza as of yesterday morning, 220 were Hamas activists and at least 40 were civilians not involved in the fighting. The identity of the remainder is still not certain, said officials. The U.N. announced yesterday that at least a quarter of the Palestinian dead, over 100, were civilians, including over 40 children. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attacked Israel yesterday, calling the Gaza operation criminal. He told Gaza residents they are not alone and said he intends to ask the U.N. Security Council to call on Israel to halt its attacks. In Lebanon, Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nassrallah said Hamas is winning the battle against the IDF and Israel is now afraid of a failure in a Gaza ground operation. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Israelis targeted abroad Gunman opens fire on Israelis working at shopping mall in Denmark. Iran silences dissent Newspaper forcibly shut down after article blaming Hamas for Gaza violence.

Read & React IDF recommends major, but brief Gaza ground offensive Responses: 97 Ari Shavit: Israelis who blame Israel are not helping Palestinians Responses: 94 Roi Ben-Yehuda: Pro-Israel camp would be wise to heed Muslim cries for peace Responses: 39 Israel Harel: Like it did in Lebanon, Israel blinked first in Gaza Responses: 41 Poll: Majority of Israelis support continuing military operations in Gaza Responses: 36 Haniyeh: Palestinian victory in Gaza is near Responses: 70 More Headlines 01:02 IAF bombs Gaza mosque used as terror hub 01:01 Egypt FM: Hamas gave Israel the excuse to launch Gaza attacks 22:23 Livni: Cease-fire in Gaza would grant Hamas legitimacy 23:11 Barrage of Gaza rockets strikes Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva, Ashdod 23:24 Not just air strikes: Israel takes the fight to Arab media 22:44 Danish police arrest Palestinian on suspicion of shooting Israelis at shopping mall 15:02 Israelis who blame Israel are not helping the Palestinians 13:27 Get up to the minute coverage of the warfare in Gaza directly to your email 15:03 Poll: Most Israelis support continuing Gaza military op 15:01 Like in Lebanon, in Gaza Israel blinked first 18:34 Tel Aviv, Rishon Letzion prepare bomb shelters in case of attack 13:57 AMIRA HASS / Thousands of Gazans near Rafah displaced by IAF bombing of tunnels 18:00 12 Palestinians hurt in Gaza fighting being treated in Israeli hopsitals 17:59 Czech FM: Finding Gaza truce is a 'main role' of the EU Previous Editions Select Day 01 jan 31 dec 30 dec 29 dec 28 dec 26 dec 25 dec 24 dec 23 dec 22 dec 21 dec 19 dec

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