Israel is now in "all-out war" with Hamas, the
Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza, Defense Minister
Ehud Barak told Israel's parliament Monday.
"We have stretched our hand in peace many times to the
Palestinian people. We have nothing against the people of
Gaza," Barak said as Israeli warplanes carried out a
third day of strikes on the Palestinian territory.
"But this is an all-out war against Hamas and its branches.
The restraint that we have demonstrated is the source of our
strength when it is time to fight."
The Palestinian death toll from the campaign has topped 300,
most of them Hamas militants, Palestinian medical sources
said Monday. Columns of smoke could be seen over Gaza City,
while Israeli tanks cruised along the edges of the territory.
Iyad Nasr, a spokesman for the International Committee of
the Red Cross, said the streets of Gaza were largely empty
while airstrikes continued throughout the morning.
"Very little number of cars are going out," he
said. "People who need to secure some basic food supplies
are all to go out, or people looking for a family member who
is missing or going to a hospital."
