Olmert: If the rockets do not stop, the IDF strikes will be even harsher

from a Grad rocket when he was caught in the open en route to a protected room.

"Suddenly I saw Hani lying on the floor covered in blood hit by shrapnel in his head," said construction worker Majdi al-Hababin of the Bedouin town of Rahat. "I tried pulling him to the shelter and cried out his name but he didn't respond. I knew he was dead."

Al-Hababin said construction at the site had continued despite the rocket fire by Palestinian militants and that the laborers would sometimes take cover in one of the sheltered rooms when the sirens sounded. Construction worker Mahmoud al-Adami, 28, of the West Bank city of Hebron, was also wounded by the rocket fired by Palestinian militants.

"The window was open and shrapnel flew through," he said. "Palestinians are on the receiving end on both sides, in Gaza and in Israel."

Talal al-Krenawi, the mayor of Rahat, visited the wounded in the hospital yesterday and called on both sides to cease their fire.

"As Israeli citizens we deplore the bloodbath on both sides," Krenawi said. "We are calling for the immediate cessation of rocket fire toward Israel and the cessation of attacks on Gaza."

One of the wounded men had relatives in Gaza."I have nothing to say, the Palestinians are my relatives, my flesh and blood," the man said.

Meanwhile, Israeli Arab protesters across the country continued to demonstrate against the operation. Since Operation Cast Lead began in Gaza Saturday, police have arrested some 140 Israeli Arab protesters, mostly in the north of the country and in Jerusalem.

Students at universities staged demonstrations, some supporting and some protesting against the operation. About 200 Israeli Arab protesters rallied at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. The demonstration was organized by Ali Baher, the chairman of the university's Arab student union, who two months ago refused to shake the hand of President Shimon Peres, calling him a child killer.

"Hamas did not violate the cease-fire because there never was one," Baher said. "Israel violated the calm every day."

Activists from Hadash, the Islamic Movement and Bnei Hakfar attended the event. Israeli Arab protesters at the university were met with a counterdemonstration by Jewish right-wing students showing support for the Israel Defense Forces' operation. Students for and against the operation also demonstrated at Tel Aviv University.

At the same time, residents in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina erected a mourning tent for those killed in the Gaza Strip. Protesters against the operation also gathered outside the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem's Old City, one of East Jerusalem's central gathering points.

Firefighters put out three different blazes started by Palestinians in the Nabi Samuel area north of Jerusalem. In Modi'in Illit, an ultra-Orthodox town just inside the Green Line, contractor Ariyeh Deutsch was seriously wounded when he was stabbed by a Palestinian laborer he had fired. The assailant stabbed and lightly wounded a passerby before he was shot and wounded by a security guard.

White House says Hamas must stop firing missiles

The White House yesterday said Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to a lasting cease-fire after the Israeli air strikes on Gaza. The United States has not called for Israel to stop the attacks on Hamas-controlled Gaza and has placed the onus for ending the violence on the Palestinian faction, which Washington considers a terrorist organization.

"In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable cease-fire," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

"That is the objective to which all parties need to be working. That is what the United States is working towards. Israel made clear it has no intentions to reoccupy Gaza," he said in a statement. At the same time, he said the United States has asked Israel to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.