Renewed protests at Israeli raids

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Protests in the US, Indonesia, Iraq, Venezuela, Lebanon, Jordan and Argentina

Protests against the Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip have again been taking place, with rallies in several cities across the region.

For a second day in Jordan, several thousand protesters gathered in Amman and burned Israeli and American flags.

There were similar rallies in Egypt, Syria, Libya and Iraq with many calling for a firm response from their leaders.

One of the largest gatherings was in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, organised by the Hezbollah movement.

Tens of thousands of people poured on to the streets of southern Beirut, many carrying Palestinian, Lebanese and Hezbollah flags and banners supporting the Palestinian people, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Many held banners - one read "We are ready to die". One Palestinian woman was brandishing a Jambiyya Mohammed al-Qiri, Yemen Read eyewitness accounts

The rally was called for by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who in a speech on Sunday urged crowds in the Arab and Islamic world to rise up in support of Gaza.

He also urged his fighters in southern Lebanon, who fought a brief war with Israel in 2006, to be on alert in case of Israeli attacks.

In Amman demonstrators, responding to a call by Islamist-led trades unionists, marched to the office of Prime Minister Nader Dahabi and delivered a letter demanding Jordan scrap its 1994 peace treaty with Israel and close its embassy, the AFP news agency reported.

Egyptians staged their largest yet demonstration against Israel's offensive against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, with thousands taking to the streets of central Cairo.

The rally was once again organised by the Islamist opposition in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which Hamas first emerged.

Elsewhere in the Islamic world, there were anti-Israeli protests in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Gaza aid boat 'rammed by Israel'

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The damaged boat arrives at a Lebanese port

A boat delivering 3.5 tonnes of Cypriot medical aid to the Gaza Strip has been rammed by Israeli naval vessels in international waters, activists say.

The Free Gaza campaign group, which operates the Dignity, also claimed shots were fired towards the crew.

The boat later docked in Lebanon after sustaining serious damage to one side.

Israeli officials confirmed there had been "physical contact" but denied reports of shooting and said the crew had not responded to radio calls.

The 20m (66ft) Dignity was carrying 15 civilian passengers, including several doctors, journalists, a former US congresswoman and a member of the Cypriot parliament, says Free Gaza.

'Heavy gunfire'

Crowds turned out to greet the Dignity as it arrived in Tyre port.

The organisation sent out an urgent statement on Tuesday saying the vessel had been surrounded by at least six Israeli military ships.

"They are firing live ammunition around the Dignity, and one of the warships has rammed the civilian craft causing an unknown amount of damage," said the statement.

"We heard heavy gunfire in the background before all contact was lost with the Dignity."

The boat was eventually able to reach the Lebanese port of Tyre, where it was greeted by a flotilla of fishing boats.

Heavy damage was clearly visible along one side but there were no reports of any injuries.

The Dignity's captain, Denis Healey, told reporters in Tyre they had been attacked "without any warning, any provocation, or anything".

"There were two other gunboats on our portside with search lights shining at us, distracting us, while a third boat came from ahead and rammed us," he said.

Another crew member, British doctor David Halpin, described hearing "the most almighty three bangs" and said he thought he was going to die.

'Light damage'

The boat setting off from Cyprus with aid

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Yigal Palmor, said the navy had tried to contact the Dignity by radio to say it could not enter Gaza.

Much of the small region has been surrounded by a closed military zone since the Israeli bombardment began four days ago.

"After the boat did not answer the radio, it sharply veered and the two vessels collided, causing only light damage," said Mr Palmor.

Speaking before the ship set sail from Cyprus, spokesperson Renee Boyer said the crew were not taking the voyage lightly and did not expect it to be easy.

Free Gaza said the incident was "an act of terrorism", as well as a violation of international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The group has sent six boat loads of aid into the Gaza Strip in the past few months and said they would try again to deliver the medical supplies.

Gaza air campaign 'a first stage'

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Devastation in the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces gather on boundary

Israel's air assault on Gaza is "the first in several stages" of operations aimed at ending militant rocket fire, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said.

As bombing continued for a fourth day, another top official said Israel was ready for "long weeks of action".

Palestinian officials say more than 360 people have been killed since Saturday. Four Israelis have died in rocket fire.

As EU officials met to discuss the crisis, some reports from Israel said it was considering a temporary truce.

Mr Olmert was set to discuss the idea of a 48-hour suspension, suggested by France, with his officials later in the day, the French news agency AFP said.

But Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer warned a truce would allow militant group Hamas - which controls Gaza - "to regain strength... and prepare an even stronger attack against Israel".

US President Bush agreed in a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that for any ceasefire to be effective it had to respected by Hamas, the White House said.

A BBC reporter says Israeli tanks and troops are massed along Gaza's border.

Correspondents say this could be a prelude to ground operations, but could also be intended to build pressure on Hamas.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana called for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of crossings to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, as EU foreign ministers held talks in Paris to discuss the crisis.

Foreign ministers from the Quartet trying to broker peace in the Middle East - the US, Russia, the UN and the EU - also held a conference call, no details of which were released.

'Defenceless population'

On Tuesday, Israeli jets attacked more targets linked to Hamas, hitting a number of government buildings and security installations.

See detailed map of attacks

At least 10 people were killed and 40 said to have been wounded in the raids.

One air strike killed two sisters, the eldest aged 11, riding in a donkey cart in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, Palestinian medical sources said.

Gaza aid boat 'rammed by Israel' US tacitly backs Israeli offensive Aid worker diary: Gaza raids Rocket attacks plague Israeli towns

The UN has called for an investigation into the attacks, which are causing heavy civilian casualties. It says at least 62 of the Palestinians killed so far were women and children.

Richard Falk - the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories - said the international community must put more pressure on Israel to end its assault.

"Israel is committing a shocking series of atrocities by using modern weaponry against a defenceless population - attacking a population that has been enduring a severe blockade for many months," Mr Falk said in a BBC interview.

But Israeli officials said there was more to come.

The Israeli military "has made preparations for long weeks of action", deputy defence minister Matan Vilnai said.

Mr Olmert's statement that the bombardment was "the first of several stages approved by the security cabinet" was quoted from a briefing he gave to President Shimon Peres on Tuesday.

Separately, Israeli naval vessels confronted pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break the Gaza blockade by boat. The activists said one vessel rammed them; their boat made port in Lebanon with heavy damage on one side.

Rocket fire

The Egyptian-Gaza border was due to be opened to permit more trucks carrying aid to enter the territory, and for wounded Palestinians to be transported to Egyptian hospitals.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, under popular pressure to open the crossing fully, said that could not happen while Hamas, rather than the Palestinian Authority, led by its rival Fatah, controlled the border.

Demonstrators in Yemen, angered by Egypt's co-operation with the blockade on Gaza, briefly stormed the country's consulate in Aden, where they burned an Egyptian flag and hoisted a Palestinian one.

There have been angry protests against the Israeli offensive in many other cities across the Arab world and in several European capitals.

Binyamin Netanyahu: 'Terrorists cannot have immunity'

Hamas has pressed on with rocket and mortar assaults, killing three Israeli civilians and a soldier in areas that have not previously suffered such fatalities.

Israeli military officials said rocket attacks landing more than 25 miles (40km) from Gaza put nearly 10% of Israel's population of seven million within range.

Israeli political leaders have been under pressure to act against rocket fire with a general election looming in early February.

Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu has backed the offensive, telling the BBC that "Israel is using a fraction of its power to try to target surgically the terrorists".

The strikes began less than a week after the expiry of a six-month-long ceasefire deal with Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007.

Correspondents say short of a full-scale invasion of Gaza, it is unlikely Israel will be able to prevent rocket fire permanently.

Israel dismantled its strategic settlements and military bases in Gaza in 2005 but has kept tight control over access in and out of the narrow coastal strip and its airspace.

GAZA VIOLENCE 27-30 DECEMBER

1. Ashdod: First attack so far north, Sunday. Woman killed in second rocket attack, Tuesday
2. Ashkelon: One man killed, several injured in rocket attack, Monday
3. Sderot: rocket attacks
4. Nevitot: One man killed, several injured in rocket attack, Saturday
5. Civilian family reported killed in attack on Yabna refugee camp, Sunday
6. Israeli warplanes strike tunnels under Gaza/Egypt border, Sunday
7. Three brothers reported killed in attack on Rafah, Sunday
8. Khan Younis: Four members of Islamic Jihad and a child reported killed, Sunday. Security officer killed in air strike on Hamas police station, Tuesday
9. Deir al-Balah: Palestinians injured, houses and buildings destroyed, Sunday
10. Tel al-Hawa - Interior ministry and Islamic University badly damaged, Monday. At least three buildings in ministry compound hit, Tuesday
11. Gaza City port: naval vessels targeted, Sunday
12. Shati refugee camp: Home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya targeted, Monday
13. Intelligence building attacked, Sunday
14. Jebaliya refugee camp: several people killed in attack on mosque, Sunday 15. Beit Hanoun - two girls killed in air strike, Tuesday
16. Israeli soldier killed at unspecified military base near Nahal Oz border crossing - five other soldiers wounded in same rocket attack, Monday night.

Gaza rockets hit deep into Israel

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The Hamas rocket hit an empty kindergarten

Long-range rockets fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have landed in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, some 46km (28 miles) away.

No injuries or damage were reported after the rockets hit an empty school and fields in the city's north.

Correspondents say it is the furthest the Palestinian militants in Gaza have managed to strike.

The attacks came as Israel renewed its air strikes on Gaza for a fifth day, amid growing pressure for a ceasefire.

Two rockets also hit the nearby city of Ashkelon on Wednesday, injuring one person slightly.

It is not known exactly what rockets Hamas and other groups in Gaza have Israel says Hamas used the six-month truce to boost its arsenal through smuggling tunnels Grad-style missiles have reached Ashkelon since 2006 Recent strikes in Ashdod could be Iranian-made Oghab, Fajr-3 or Ra'ad missiles

Four Israelis have been killed by rocket fire from Gaza since the Israeli offensive began on Saturday. Palestinian officials say about 374 Palestinians have died, including at least 62 civilians.

Following the attack on Beersheba, an Israeli police spokesman said 860,000 Israelis - more than a tenth of the population - were now in range of Hamas rockets.

The BBC's Mike Sergeant in Jerusalem says that will only increase Israeli public support for continued military action.

Hamas's military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, says it plans to fire at Israeli targets that are even further away as long as the attacks on Gaza continue.

The Israeli air strikes began less than a week after the expiry of a six-month-long ceasefire deal with Hamas, which controls Gaza.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but has kept tight control over access in and out of Gaza and its airspace.

Israel rejects Gaza truce calls

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Gaza wakes up to another day of air strikes

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has rejected international calls for a 48-hour truce in the Gaza Strip to allow in more humanitarian aid.

He said conditions were not right for a ceasefire, but did not rule one out if a "better security reality in the south" of Israel came about.

Israel has launched air strikes on Gaza for a fifth day, while more Hamas rockets have landed in southern Israel.

The town of Beersheba was hit, the deepest penetration by rockets so far.

Map: Gaza and Israel violence In pictures: Day five of strikes Gaza rockets hit deep into Israel Taking cover on Sderot front line

In the last five days, Israeli jets and attack helicopters have hit Hamas targets, including security compounds, government buildings, smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt and homes belonging to militant leaders.

Palestinian officials say about 391 Palestinians have died in the Israeli air strikes; four Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza, which is under Hamas control.

After meeting his cabinet, Prime Minister Olmert said conditions were not right for a ceasefire, but he did not rule one out in the future.

"If conditions will ripen, and we think there can be a diplomatic solution that will ensure a better security reality in the south, we will consider it. But at the moment, it's not there," he was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

Any ceasefire with Hamas had to be permanent, he said, adding that there was international consensus that Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel had to stop.

International appeals

The 48-hour ceasefire plan to allow more aid into Gaza, was proposed by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

The Hamas PM's offices were again attacked early on Wednesday

A Hamas spokesman quoted by AFP news agency criticised the current international truce proposals, saying they "put the executioner and victim on equal footing".

Fawzi Barhum said international and Arab efforts had to focus on "ending this aggression".

A European Union statement had called for an "unconditional" halt to Hamas rocket attacks.

The Arab League is also meeting in Cairo to discuss the crisis.

Hospitals depleted

On Wednesday, Israeli missiles again pounded tunnels along Gaza's Egyptian frontier, as well as an office of former Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and other buildings linked to his Hamas movement.

Rockets landed in and around the southern Israeli town of Beersheba, about 40 km (24 miles) from Gaza, on Wednesday and Tuesday.

Although no serious casualties were reported, this is the deepest that Palestinian rockets have penetrated inside Israel - something that will only increase Israeli public support for continued military action, observers say.

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Hamas rocket reaches Beersheba

A police spokesman said 860,000 Israelis were now in range of Palestinian rockets.

The UN says at least 62 Palestinian civilians have died since Saturday. Palestinian medical officials say more than 1,700 people have been injured, overwhelming Gaza's hospitals.

Red Cross spokesman in Gaza Iyad Nasr said Gaza badly needed more supplies.

"In particular the hospitals have been depleted and stretched to the maximum because of the closure imposed," he told the BBC.

Israel said it was allowing 106 lorries carrying humanitarian aid - including medical supplies - from a variety of international organisations into Gaza on Wednesday.

Closed military zone

The US - Israel's strongest ally - has called for a long-term solution beyond any immediate ceasefire. But the White House reiterated the onus was on Hamas to act first to end the violence.

It is not known exactly what rockets Hamas and other groups in Gaza have Israel says Hamas used the six-month truce to boost its arsenal through smuggling tunnels Grad-style missiles have reached Ashkelon since 2006 Recent strikes in Ashdod could be Iranian-made Oghab, Fajr-3 or Ra'ad missiles

An extra 2,500 reservists have been called up by the Israeli army and, on the frontier with Gaza, preparations continue for a possible ground operation.

Israel has massed forces along the boundary and has declared the area around it a "closed military zone".

Correspondents say this could be a prelude to ground operations, but could also be intended to build pressure on Hamas.

A statement by Hamas has warned any invasion would see "the children of Gaza collecting the body parts of Israeli soldiers and the ruins of tanks".

The Israeli air strikes began less than a week after the expiry of a six-month-long ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but has kept tight control over access in and out of Gaza and its airspace.

Israeli leaders 'to topple Hamas'

Tzipi Livni said Israel must react when it is fired upon

The two leading candidates to become Israel's next prime minister have vowed if elected to topple the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, in Gaza.

The threats by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Likud party leader Binyamin Netanyahu came after PM Ehud Olmert warned against making bold statements.

A six-month Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas, which runs Gaza, came to an end on Friday.

On Sunday rockets fired by militants in Gaza hit a house in the town of Sderot.

No-one was injured in the attack, though a worker at a nearby farming community was hurt when another device landed in a field.

The Israeli military has said militants fired some 30 rockets and mortar bombs into Israel on Saturday. A Palestinian militant was killed in an Israeli air strike.

'Proper response'

At the Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday, the head of the country's domestic security agency, Shin Bet, said that Hamas had increased the range of its rockets during the ceasefire and could now hit several southern Israeli cities.

Israel will know how to give the proper response at the right time in the right way, responsibly Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

Yuval Diskin said the rockets could now reach Kiryat Gat, Ashdod and even Beersheba, about 40km (25 miles) from Gaza.

He also told ministers that while Hamas had renewed its attacks, it was "interested in continuing the truce, but wants to improve its terms".

"It wants us to lift the siege [of Gaza], stop attacks, and extend the truce to include [the West Bank]," Mr Diskin added.

Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire on Friday, saying it had not respected its terms, including the lifting of the blockade under which little more than humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza.

Israel said it initially began a staged easing of the blockade, but this was halted when Hamas failed to fulfil what Israel says were agreed conditions, including ending all rocket fire and halting weapons smuggling.

Each side accuses the other of breaking the ceasefire

Prime Minister Olmert said during the cabinet meeting that the government had agreed to the ceasefire with Hamas last June with little doubt or hesitation.

"Israel has always hoped for and wanted quiet for the residents of the South and that they should enjoy genuine calm and be free of the threat of unceasing Qassam and mortar attacks that have disrupted life in the South for a very long period," he said.

Mr Olmert and Defence Minister Ehud Barak also warned the cabinet and opposition parties against making "bold statements" about plans for a major military operation in Gaza.

"A government doesn't rush to battle, but doesn't avoid it either," Mr Olmert said. "Israel will know how to give the proper response at the right time in the right way, responsibly."

'Policy of attack'

Shortly afterwards, however, Ms Livni told a meeting of her Kadima party that she would topple Hamas if she became prime minister after the general election on 10 February.

Right now we have to go from passive response to active assault Benjamin Netanyahu Likud party

"The state of Israel, and a government under me, will make it a strategic objective to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza," she said. "The means for doing this should be military, economic and diplomatic.

"Israel must react when it is fired upon, must re-establish its force of dissuasion and stop the rockets," she added. "This is what has to be done and this is what I will do."

Mr Netanyahu, whose right-wing Likud party is currently ahead in the polls, meanwhile called for a more "active policy of attack", accusing the current government of being too "passive".

"In the long-term, the toppling of the Hamas regime is inevitable," he said while visiting Sderot on Sunday.

He said residents of southern Israeli towns close to the Gaza Strip were "paying a hefty price for the mistakes made by Livni and her ministers" since the Israeli withdrawal from the territory in 2005.

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas government in Gaza and former Palestinian prime minister, dismissed the Israeli threats.

"Nothing can finish off our people," he said. "It is not our people who are escalating the situation; it is the Israeli occupation which should have stuck to the conditions of the truce."

The BBC's Katya Adler in Jerusalem says the countdown to February's election has started with the candidates eager to court an electorate fearful of the future.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that a "major escalation of violence would have grave consequences for the protection of civilians in Israel and Gaza, the welfare of the Gazan civilian population, and the sustainability of political efforts".

Israeli jets target Gaza tunnels

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Israel hit new targets overnight, as troops stayed on alert by the border

Israeli jets have launched a second day of air attacks on the Gaza Strip, amid warnings that operations will continue until Hamas ends rocket fire from Gaza.

In the latest raids jets bombed tunnels in the Rafah area, used to bring supplies into Gaza from Egypt. Israel says they are used for arms smuggling.

Palestinians now say at least 280 people have died in the air raids.

Israel is said to be considering a ground assault and has authorised a call-up of 6,500 army reservists.

At the UN, the Security Council called for an end to all violence in Gaza, including rocket attacks from Gaza.

Israel says militants have fired 110 rockets into Israel since Saturday.

See a detailed map of the area

The air strikes were launched on Saturday against Hamas targets in the densely-populated coastal territory, less than a week after the expiry of a six-month-long ceasefire deal with the militant group.

Israel's mixed motives for strikes In pictures: Gaza under siege Gaza raids: Your reaction Voices: Reaction to raids

Israel hit targets in all Gaza's main towns, including Gaza City in the north and Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.

More than 210 targets were hit in the first 24 hours of what Israel says could be a lengthy military operation.

"Israel will continue until we have a new security environment in the south, when the population there will not longer live in terror and in fear of constant rocket barrages," said government spokesman Mark Regev.

The high numbers of casualties made Saturday the single deadliest day in the Gaza Strip since Israel's occupation of the territory in 1967, analysts said, although no independent confirmation is available of the numbers killed.

Border confusion

Most of those killed were policemen in the Hamas militant movement, which controls Gaza, but officials said women and children also died.

The head of Gaza's police was among those killed.

Up to 700 others were wounded as missiles struck security compounds and militant bases, the officials added.

Israel has permanent military positions on alert outside Gaza

The main hospital in Gaza City is reportedly struggling to cope, and Egypt has opened its border with Gaza at Rafah to let the injured seek treatment there.

But the Egyptian foreign minister has accused Hamas of not allowing injured Palestinians to leave Gaza to seek treatment, even though much-needed medical supplies are waiting at the nearby El-Arish airport.

In Israel, one person was killed, in the town of Netivot, some 20km (12 miles) east of Gaza, while there were reports of several Qassam rocket strikes early on Sunday.

Rockets landed in Ashdod, Israel's largest southern city - some 38km (23 miles) from Gaza - the deepest they have ever struck inside Israel, Israeli media said. No injuries were reported.

A Palestinian youth was killed by Israeli fire in the north of the West Bank during protests against the raids, medics said.

In Gaza, Palestinian officials said two people died when a mosque was hit on Saturday night.

A BBC journalist in Gaza City said a Hamas-run security and prison compound was hit by at least three missiles on Sunday morning. Hamas said all of its security compounds in the strip were destroyed on Saturday.

'Time for fighting'

At the UN, the Security Council ended emergency talks with a call for an end to hostilities, speaking of "serious concern" at the escalation of the situation in Gaza.

A resident describes the attacks in Gaza

US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad suggested Hamas held the key to restoring calm.

"We believe the way forward from here is for rocket attacks against Israel to stop, for all violence to end," he said.

He was implicitly backed up from Cairo by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - whose Fatah faction is a bitter rival of Hamas.

"We could have avoided what happened," Mr Abbas said, saying the Islamist group should have renewed the ceasefire before it lapsed.

The air raids came days after the truce expired and as Israel prepares for a general election in February.

Palestine has never witnessed an uglier massacre Ismail Haniya Hamas leader in Gaza UK concern over Gaza raid Malnutrition and shortages in Gaza Gaza: World reaction in quotes Israel warns Hamas over rockets

Defence Minister Ehud Barak has explained the operation in stark terms, saying "the time has come to fight".

In response the exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, called for a new intifada, or uprising, against Israel, while the movement's Gaza leader, Ismail Haniya, called the attack an "ugly massacre".

International reaction to the bombing has been dominated by calls for restraint.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Middle East envoy Tony Blair and the French EU presidency all called for a ceasefire.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak defends Gaza strike

The Israel-Hamas truce was regularly under strain and was allowed to lapse when it expired this month.

Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire, saying it had not respected its terms, including the lifting of the blockade under which little more than humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza.

Israel said it initially began easing the blockade, but this was halted when Hamas failed to fulfil what Israel says were agreed conditions, including ending all rocket fire and halting weapons smuggling.

From 1967 Israel's military occupied the Gaza Strip and Jewish settlers built communities within the territory. Israel withdrew in 2005 but has maintained control of Gaza's borders.

Israel warns Hamas over rockets

Tzipi Livni went to Cairo at the invitation of Egypt's government

Israeli leaders have issued stern warnings to Palestinian militant group Hamas to stop rocket attacks on Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would not hesitate to strike Hamas and another militant group, Islamic Jihad, in the Gaza Strip.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned Israel "cannot tolerate" Palestinian militants targeting Israeli citizens.

Some 50 rockets have been launched from Gaza in recent days, after the killing of three Hamas members by Israel.

A six-month ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas ended last week.

'Enough is enough'

Speaking after talks with the Egyptian leadership in Cairo on the failed ceasefire in Gaza, Ms Livni described the latest escalation as "unbearable".

Ehud Olmert appeals to the people of Gaza to turn against Hamas. Courtesy Al-Arabiya TV

"Hamas needs to understand that our aspiration to live in peace doesn't mean that Israel is going to take this kind of situation any longer. Enough is enough," she said.

The BBC's Christian Fraser says some will see the visit as the first of several diplomatic steps Israel must take before launching military action.

Mr Olmert called on residents of Gaza to stop militants "firing on innocent civilians", in an interview with the Arab television station Al-Arabiya.

"I say to you in a last-minute call, stop it," Mr Olmert said, Israeli media reported.

"Don't let Hamas, which is acting against the values of Islam, put you in danger. Stop them. Stop your enemies and ours."

Mr Olmert added: "I will not hesitate to use Israel's might to strike Hamas and [Islamic] Jihad. How? I will not go into details now."

Egyptian anger

Ms Livni had earlier been holding talks with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who brokered the ceasefire.

Mr Aboul Gheit urged restraint from both sides, and said Egypt would continue to act as a mediator but admitted that a new truce currently seemed unlikely.

Relations between Egypt and Gaza are strained, our correspondent says.

President Mubarak has told the militants he believes they are making a mistake in abandoning the ceasefire.

It is widely understood the Egyptians are furious with Hamas for boycotting peace talks with Fatah last month, which were due to be held in Cairo.

The question now, our correspondent says, is whether the Egyptians would back an Israeli military offensive against Hamas.

The London-based newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi has reported that Egypt would not object to a limited Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip, aimed at toppling Hamas.

Ms Livni travelled to the Egyptian capital at the personal invitation of the government.

This is rare given that Mr Mubarak usually only meets Israeli officials in the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

It is being read as an Egyptian endorsement of Tzipi Livni, who is seeking to become prime minister in February's general election.

It has been noted that President Mubarak has not yet invited for talks the Defence Minister and Labour Chairman Ehud Barak, who is also a prime ministerial hopeful.

Massive Israeli air raids on Gaza

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The missile strikes caused panic in Gaza

Israeli F-16 bombers have pounded key targets across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 195 people, medics say.

Gaza officials and the Hamas militant group said more than 300 others were hurt as missiles hit security compounds and militant bases.

The strikes, the most intense Israeli attacks on Gaza for decades, come days after a truce with Hamas expired.

Israel said it was responding to an escalation in rocket attacks from Gaza and would bomb "as long as necessary".

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said "it won't be easy and it won't be short".

"There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight," he said, quoted by Reuters.

Palestinian militants frequently fire rockets against Israeli towns from inside the Gaza Strip; large numbers of rocket and mortar shells have been fired at Israel in recent days.

In a statement, Israel's military said it targeted "Hamas terror operatives" as well as training camps and weapons storage warehouses.

A Hamas police spokesman, Islam Shahwan, said one of the raids targeted a police compound in Gaza City where a graduation ceremony for new personnel was taking place.

At least a dozen bodies of men in black uniforms were photographed at the Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City.

Hamas will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood, Fawzi Barhoum Hamas spokesman In pictures: Gaza attack aftermath UK concern over Gaza raid Malnutrition and shortages in Gaza Israel warns Hamas over rockets

Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni defended the air raids, saying Israel had "no choice". "We're doing what we need to do to defend our citizens," she said in a television broadcast.

Israel hit targets across Gaza, striking in the territory's main population centres, including Gaza City in the north and the southern towns of Khan Younis and Rafah.

In the West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - whose Fatah faction was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 - condemned the attacks and called for restraint.

But Hamas quickly vowed to carry out revenge attacks on Israel in response to the air strikes, firing Qassam rockets into Israeli territory as an immediate reply.

At least one Israeli was killed by a rocket strike in the town of Netivot, doctors said.

"Hamas will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood," spokesman Fawzi Barhoum was reported as saying.

Israel also stood firm, saying operations "will continue, will be expanded, and will deepen if necessary".

It is the worst attack in Gaza since 1967 in terms of the number of Palestinian casualties, a senior analyst told the BBC in Jerusalem.

The air strikes come amid rumours that an Israeli ground operation is imminent.

Calls for ceasefire

International reaction was swift and expressed concern, with many world leaders calling for calm and an immediate ceasefire.

Civilians were caught up in the air strikes in heavily-populated Gaza

A White House spokesman said the United States "urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza".

"Hamas' continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop," the spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, added.

The UK Foreign Office said: "We urge maximum restraint to avoid further civilian casualties."

The French presidency of the EU meanwhile called for an immediate halt to the shooting by both sides.

At least 30 missiles were fired by F-16 fighter bombers. Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that some 60 warplanes took part in the first wave of air strikes.

Hamas said all of its security compounds in Gaza were destroyed by the air strikes, which Israel said hit some 40 targets across the territory.

Mosques issued urgent appeals for people to donate blood and Hamas sources told the BBC's Rushdi Abou Alouf in Gaza that hospitals were soon full.

Egypt opened its border crossing to the Gaza Strip at Rafah to absorb and treat some of those injured in the south of the territory.

Most of the dead and injured were said to be in Gaza City, where Hamas's main security compound was destroyed. The head of Gaza's police forces, Tawfik Jaber, was reportedly among those killed.

A resident describes the attacks in Gaza

Images from the targeted areas showed dead and injured Palestinians, burning and destroyed buildings, and scenes of panic and chaos on Gaza's crowded streets.

Residents spoke of children heading to and from school at the time of the attacks, and there were fears of civilian casualties.

Reuters news agency said at least 20 people were thought to have died in Khan Younis.

Israeli security officials have been briefing about the possibility of a new offensive into Gaza for some days now, says the BBC's Paul Wood, in Jerusalem.

But most reports centred on the possibility of a ground offensive, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was not expected to authorise any operation until Sunday at the earliest.

Although a six-month truce between Hamas and Israel was agreed earlier this year, it was regularly under strain and was allowed to lapse when it expired this month.

Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire, saying it had not respected its terms, including the lifting of the blockade under which little more than humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza.

Israel said it initially began a staged easing of the blockade, but this was halted when Hamas failed to fulfil what Israel says were agreed conditions, including ending all rocket fire and halting weapons smuggling.

Israel says the blockade - in place since Hamas took control of Gaza in June 2007 - is needed to isolate Hamas and stop it and other militants from firing rockets across the border at Israeli towns

UK marine killed on Christmas Eve

Eleven Royal Marines have been killed in Afghanistan in the past two months

A Royal Marine was killed in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The marine, from 42 Commando, died from enemy fire in the Nad-e-Ali district near Lashkar Gah in Helmand province.

Military spokeswoman Commander Paula Rowe said the death was "particularly poignant" so close to Christmas. The marine's family has been informed.

Some 136 UK troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001, including 11 Royal Marines in the past two months.

'Dedicated professional'

Commander Rowe said: "The death of this Royal Marine is a tragic loss and coming so close to Christmas, this is particularly poignant.

This dedicated professional risked his life to help bring security and stability to the people of Afghanistan Capt Mark Windsor Nato spokesman Muted festivities for UK troops

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this dreadfully sad time."

Nato spokesman Capt Mark Windsor, of the Royal Navy, expressed sadness at the marine's death.

Capt Windsor said: "This dedicated professional risked his life to help bring security and stability to the people of Afghanistan.

"[Nato's] International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) will continue to fight for the cause for which this brave serviceman gave his life."

The MoD said 42 Commando were spending Christmas Day out on operations as usual despite the death of the marine.

UK playwright Harold Pinter dies

Many of Pinter's plays are considered classics

Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter has died aged 78.

Pinter, who died on Christmas Eve, had been suffering from liver cancer, it is understood.

Pinter wrote more than 30 plays including The Caretaker and The Birthday Party. His film scripts include The French Lieutenant's Woman.

His second wife, Lady Antonia Fraser, told the Guardian newspaper: "He was a great, and it was a privilege to live with him for over 33 years."

He had been due to pick up an honorary degree earlier this month from the Central School of Speech and Drama in London but was forced to withdraw due to illness.

Political views

BBC Creative Director Alan Yentob told the BBC: "He was a unique figure in British theatre. He has dominated the theatre scene since the 1950s."

Michael Billington, Pinter's friend and biographer, said the writer was a great man as well as a great playwright.

He told Sky News: "Harold was a political figure, a polemicist and carried on fierce battles against American foreign policy and often British foreign policy, but in private he was the most incredibly loyal of friends and generous of human beings."

Harold Pinter in The Birthday Party

Also an actor, poet, screenwriter and director, Pinter was known for his left-wing political views and was an outspoken critic of US and UK foreign policy.

Veteran politician Tony Benn said Pinter was a great figure on the political scene.

"His death will leave a huge gap that will be felt by the whole political spectrum," he said.

Pinter won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 and the citation said "in his plays he uncovers the precipice in everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms".

He was awarded a CBE in 1966, later turned down a knighthood and became a Companion of Honour, an exclusive award in the gift of the Sovereign, in 2002.

Pinter was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in 2002 and following treatment, announced that he was on the road to recovery.

Three years later, he announced that he had given up writing for the theatre in order to concentrate on political work.

The adjective "Pinteresque" is included in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Dollar is key to Zimbabwe survival

Zimbabweans queue for the new $500 million banknote in Harare

By Karen Allen BBC News, Zimbabwe

Last week the reserve bank issued a new Zimbabwean banknote - a $500m bill. Its value changes by the day, but a rough estimate of its worth now is about US $50 (£33).

Its release was enough to see a surge of people flock onto the streets and form huge queues outside the banks. Harare's pavements were gridlocked for most of the day.

But increasingly it is only US dollars that are accepted in Zimbabwe's shops. Petrol stations are among those now turning away people who offer fistfuls of local currency.

Even water bills - for what little clean water there is - have to be paid in hard US cash. And bread is now a dollar commodity in many parts of the country.

'Dollarisation'

There has been a surge in cross-border trade in recent weeks with the lifting of restrictions on US dollar transactions.

Consumer goods, food and cars are being brought across from neighbouring South Africa.

To get (US) dollars I have to do assignments abroad… there are not many Zimbabweans who can do that Professor John Makombe, University of Zimbabwe

Supermarkets are now stuffed with food, filling shelves that just a month or so ago were empty.

These supermarkets are for Zimbabwe's tiny dollar elite - the type that drive brand new cars into the car parks as others try to fend off starvation. They only accept US dollar bills in these swanky shops.

John Makombe, professor of political science at the University of Zimbabwe, estimates that 80% of the population here has no access to US dollar bills.

"Even I sometimes don't have foreign currency and I'm a university professor. To get dollars I have to do assignments abroad," he says. "There are not many Zimbabweans who can do that."

The value of Professor Makumbe's monthly salary, he reveals, is equivalent to US $30. That is just a little more than the price of a jar of instant coffee in the supermarkets which have become a refuge of the dollar rich.

The "dollarisation" of the Zimbabwean financial system is propping up a collapsed Zimbabwean economy.

But it has created an unwieldy free market where the government, unable to control basic prices, is merely a bystander.

A shortage of change and small US banknotes is now creating a new US dollar inflation.

"Zimbabwe is like a house of cards… one puff and it could come down," says a Zimbabwe-based Western diplomat with a depressed tone. "The problem is… there isn't the puff to blow it down."

It seems to be an accurate observation. Massive food shortages, hyperinflation, cholera and continued political turmoil are a heady cocktail.

In any other country in the world, this combination might have triggered a coup. But not here. People are simply too scared.

Critics vanished

Journalists, human rights activists and other critics of Robert Mugabe's presidency have recently vanished.

Many Zimbabweans do not have access to foreign currency

More than 20 people have disappeared in just the past few weeks - people are terrified.

Reporting the Zimbabwe story is risky for all concerned - not least those on the other side of the microphone.

Not surprisingly many are reluctant to speak out - yet thankfully, some still do. Like Elliot and Molly - a retired couple now living on a small farm, whose geographical details I dare not divulge for fear they are punished for speaking to me.

"Africa needs to be responsible for its own problems," says Elliot boldly. "It's about our own mismanagement… we can't blame former colonies like Britain."

It is a sentiment that runs deep here, though few will speak openly about it.

When I arrived tensions were high following the disappearance of Jestina Mukoko - a prominent human rights campaigner and former journalist, who had allegedly been abducted.

Her safety has been playing on the minds of so many here ever since. Yet Zimbabwe's neighbours continue to offer legitimacy to Robert Mugabe.

Despite a power-sharing deal back in September, he still holds all the cards. He is revered as a liberation hero by many influential figures on the continent, with just Botswana and Kenya breaking rank and speaking out.

One political campaigner for the opposition MDC described the present climate in Zimbabwe as "coerced control" - an environment where intimidation rules.

It means that ordinary Zimbabweans, already enduring so much, may still face the prospect of worse to come - resisting the instinct to revolt with a sense of fear.