Israeli ground forces enter Gaza

Palestinians throw stones at Israeli troops during a protest against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in the Shuafat refugee camp, on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Israel has ordered the call-up of tens of thousands of military reservists as part of a ground offensive launched in the Gaza Strip today, prime minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement. It said that, in accordance with a secret cabinet discussion yesterday, the government ordered the armed forces "to draft the necessary reservists, on a scale of tens of thousands of troops". Already, Israeli tanks opened fire on Hamas positions after entering the northern Gaza Strip and Hamas forces replied with mortar fire, witnesses told AFP. Israeli TV channels are broadcasting images of troops marching into Gaza after nightfall. Israel's military confirmed a ground operation was under way. Defense officials say around 10,000 soldiers have massed along the border in recent days. More than 440 Palestinians are dead as the military campaign against rockets from Gaza entered a second week. Israeli air strikes earlier killed a Hamas military commander and destroyed a school. Israel has staged more than 750 air raids launched against Hamas leaders and military targets since launching "Operation Cast Lead" on Dec 27. At least 442 Palestinians have been killed ? including 75 children ? and 2,290 wounded, according to Gaza medics. Tens of thousands of demonstrators flooded streets across the Muslim world yesterday protesting Israel's punishing week-long assault on the Gaza Strip and its Islamist leadership. Demonstrators in Cairo, Damascus, Jordan, Istanbul and Tehran warned Israel not to launch what appears to be an impending ground offensive into the embattled Palestinian enclave, where some 420 people have been killed and more than 2,000 injured. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, thousands poured out on the streets after Friday prayers, hurling stones and shouting pro-Hamas slogans, despite the Israeli army's imposition of a 48-hour lockdown intended to prohibit movement in and out of the area. "We will sacrifice our soul and our blood for Gaza," the Ramallah demonstrators chanted, calling on the Islamists to "hit Tel-Aviv". Hamas officials had called for a "day of wrath" against Israel yesterday after a one-tonne bomb killed Nizar Rayyan, an influential Hamas official, and his family, on Thursday. In Jordan, police fired tear gas at angry protesters to prevent them from approaching the Israeli embassy. Speaking to a crowd in the Iranian capital yesterday, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, an influential cleric and former president, warned that the collapse of Hamas would only strengthen Palestinian resistance. In the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, protesters pumped fists while chanting "Jihad against Israel" and "Death to Israeli goons". According to UN estimates, at least 25 per cent of the dead are civilians. Hamas estimates that half the dead were part of its security apparatus. Reprisal rocket attacks by Hamas have killed four Israelis. Israel appeared to be stepping up its assault on Gaza and its beleaguered leadership, obliterating yesterday the homes of Hamas officials and a mosque that was suspected of being used as a weapons cache for the group. At least 20 houses were flattened by air strikes along with symbols of Hamas's rule over the coastal strip, including the parliament building and the ministry of justice. Three young brothers were killed when one of 30 missiles hit a house in southern Gaza, reports said. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister met top military and intelligence officials yesterday, Mr Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, said, as the government considered whether to order a ground assault. Columns of Israeli Merkava tanks and armoured personnel carriers have been massing on the border with Gaza in what soldiers there reportedly said was preparation for the impending land assault. "We're going in. I have no doubt," Ofir, 19, an army corporal inspecting the tanks, told Bloomberg yesterday. Diplomatic efforts which had appeared to stall over the last few days, gathered new impetus yesterday as Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, prepared to head to the Middle East on Monday. The EU also said it would send a "mission" to the region tomorrow, while Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said Washington was "very concerned" about the violence and was working towards "a durable ceasefire". However, in Paris on Thursday, Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, indicated that Israel had no plans for halting the military operation. "The question of whether it's enough or not will be the result of our assessment on a daily basis," she said, adding that "there is no humanitarian crisis and therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce". Hospitals in Gaza are reportedly overflowing with the wounded and medical facilities overwhelmed, forcing physicians to give priority treatment to those who have a better chance of surviving. Israel reopened its border briefly yesterday to allow about 400 foreigners and Palestinians with foreign passports to leave the besieged strip. [e-mail] * With AFP and AP