Israel in 'all-out war' with Hamas
Updated on 29 December 2008
Hospital morgues are overflowing and funerals fill the empty streets in Gaza as Israel says this is war to the bitter end against Hamas.
The Israeli Defence minister Ehud Barak declared today that Israel was engaged in an "all-out war" against Hamas.
But while he maintained everything was being done to avoid civilian casualties the UN said after three days of Israel's aerial bombardment of Gaza their conservative estimate was that 57 civilians had been killed.
Hamas claims overall more than 300 Palestinians have died in the strikes against the densely populated coastal strip.
One family lost five daughters when a bomb fell next to their home.
The UN's secretary general Ban Ki Moon has tonight called for a ceasefire to bring an end to days and nights of bombardment of the densely populated Gaza Strip. But Israel shows no sign of halting its operations.
Today two key targets were hit in Gaza City; the interior ministry and the Islamic University.
Israel has declared the area around Gaza a "closed military zone" and has started to mass forces along the border.
The Israeli Defence Force is also attacking Gaza from the sea.
Interview: Gaza eyewitness
Kylie Morris talks to businessman Sami Abdel-Shafi in Gaza.
Interview: David Miliband
Kylie Morris asks Foreign Secretary David Miliband how serious he thinks the situation was now in Gaza.
Britain says it's appalled but the foreign secretary hesitates at describing Israel's use of force as disproportionate.
