Israel rejects truce call, attacks Gaza

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 7:24 pm

Israel rejects truce call, attacks Gaza TEL AVIV: Israel rejected international pressure to suspend its air offensive in Gaza sent warplanes Wednesday to attack the besieged Palestinian territory.

The diplomatic action was set in motion by the scale of destruction in Gaza since Israel unleashed its campaign Saturday, and a casualty toll that Gaza officials now put at 390 dead and some 1,600 wounded. Hamas says some 200 uniformed members of Hamas security forces have been killed, and the U.N. says at least 60 Palestinian civilians have died. Four Israelis have been killed by militant rocket fire, including three civilians.

Overnight, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discussed a 48-hour truce proposal floated by France with his foreign and defense ministers. The meeting ended with a decision to continue the aerial attacks.

Calls for an immediate cease-fire from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia. President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice personally called leaders in the Middle East on Tuesday to press for a durable solution.

Early on Wednesday, Israeli aircraft pounded tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border in another attempt to destroyed them.