DW-World.de
Deutsche Welle

There are growing signs that Israel is planning a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip. Witnesses have reported seeing columns of tanks, other military vehicles and buses packed with soldiers travelling towards the Israeli border with Gaza. The Israeli army has also declared the area around Gaza a closed military zone. At the same time, Israeli war planes have hit dozens of targets used by the Islamist militant group Hamas for a third day. Palestinian medical sources say more than 300 people have been killed and 700 others wounded. A United Nations agency operating in Gaza has said that more than 50 of the victims were civilians. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told parliament that the operation was an all-out war against Hamas and all of its kind. The air strikes, though, have not stopped militants from firing rockets from Gaza at Israeli towns. At least three Israelis were reported killed in the latest rocket attacks.