Israel, Hamas press on with Gaza war

By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Israel pressed on with a punishing Gaza offensive and Hamas sent more rocket salvoes into southern Israeli towns in a two-week-old war that continued to defy international efforts to stop it. The Israeli military said it carried out more than 70 air strikes in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Friday against militants, rocket launching sites and weapons caches, and that the Islamist group fired at least 30 rockets across the border. Medical officials in the Gaza Strip said the Palestinian death toll had risen to 784. Hamas officials said more than a third were children. Ten Israeli soldiers have been killed, as well as three civilians hit by Hamas rocket fire. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dismissed as "unworkable" a binding U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an "immediate and... [read full story]                    

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