Gaza conflict:

Israel vows to intensify offensive

17 November BBC

Israel has put up to 75,000 reservists on stand-by and vowed to intensify its raids on the Gaza Strip after Jerusalem was targeted by a rocket for the first time in decades. Twenty-eight Palestinians and three Israelis have died since Israel killed Hamas's military chief .

Israel says it has since targeted some 600 "terror sites" in Gaza.

Telephoned by PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama repeated the US's support for Israel's "right to defend itself".A White House spokesman said Mr Obama had "expressed regret over the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives".The two men also discussed options for "de-escalating the situation", he added.Mr Obama also spoke to Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi on Friday, praising his efforts to pacify the situation in Gaza, said the spokesman.Hamas's military leader Ahmed Jabari was killed by an Israeli air strike on Wednesday. A senior commander was killed on Friday, Hamas officials said.

Hamas says that militants and civilians, including at least seven children, have been among the Palestinians killed during the two-day Israeli bombardment.On Friday, Israeli army spokesman Yoav Mordechai said: "Tonight won't be calm in Gaza."Before the recent offensive, Israel had repeatedly carried out air strikes on Gaza, as Palestinian militants fired rockets across the border.Two Israeli women and a man died when a rocket from Gaza hit a building in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi on Thursday, Israeli officials said.On Friday, a rocket landed in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem. Haaretz newspaper said it was the first time since 1970 that a rocket had been fired into Jerusalem.It is not clear whether the rocket was the same Iranian-built Fajr-5 launched towards Tel Aviv for the second day on Friday.The Fajr-5 rockets have an estimated range of 75km (45 miles).

The Tel Aviv attack was the first time the city has come under attack since the 1991 Gulf War.The missile appears to have done no harm, with police officials quoted variously as saying it had landed in the sea or in an unpopulated area.

Analysts say it is the first time Gaza militants have deployed such powerful missiles.Israel says its assault on Gaza is aimed at knocking out rocket firing facilities. A spokesman said on Friday it had destroyed Hamas's "nascent" unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) programme.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said that during the operation codenamed Pillar of Defense - it had targeted "600 terror sites in Gaza, including underground rocket launchers & infrastructure".It said 97 rockets fired from Gaza had hit Israel on Friday alone 388 since Wednesday.

Its radar defence system Iron Dome - had intercepted 99 rockets.On Friday evening Israel blocked access to three major routes leading into Gaza.Rumours have been swirling that a ground attack is imminent, but Israeli officials have said no decision has yet been made.

Call-up papers have already been sent to 16,000 Israeli reservists, and officials have authorised the mobilisation of another 75,000. The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Israel of carrying out "massacres".Western leaders have appealed for both sides to stop the escalation in violence.

Britain and Germany both said Hamas bears the brunt of the blame and should stop firing rockets immediately.But Egypt's President Mursi has called the Israeli raids "a blatant aggression against humanity" and promised that Egypt "will not leave Gaza on its own".Ties between Hamas and Egypt have strengthened since Mr Mursi's election earlier this year.