Israel to continue Gaza operation despite UN cease-fire resolution

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Source: CCTV.com | 01-10-2009 08:59

Israel continued to pound the Gaza Strip from the air on Friday, as Hamas fired more rockets into southern Israel. Both sides are defying a UN call for an immediate cease-fire.

An Israeli soldier covers his ears after firing a mortar  mounted on an armoured personal carrier (APC) towards Gaza  from its position outside the northern Gaza Strip January 9,  2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Israeli aircraft struck more than 30 targets before dawn on Friday. There were also constant explosions after first light.

Hamas says one Israeli airstrike killed two of its fighters, while another flattened a five-story building in northern Gaza, killing at least 7 people, including an infant.

By the afternoon, 22 Palestinians were killed, pushing the death toll to 776.

According to Gaza health officials, at least half of those killed in the two-week-old conflict were civilians.

Despite the devastating offensive, Hamas has not stopped firing rockets into southern Israel.

One fell in a street in the southern town of Ashdod. An Israeli bomb squad used a robot to dismantle the unexploded rocket.