March 1 (Bloomberg) -- Israeli air and ground strikes killed 32 Palestinians, five of them children, in the Hamas- controlled Gaza Strip as militants continued cross-border rocket attacks.

The death toll for the day was the highest in more than five years, Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency services at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said by phone. He said that half of those who died were civilians, killed when a rocket hit their homes.

Clashes between Israeli forces, firing rockets and shells from tanks and attack helicopters, and militants in Gaza have escalated in advance of a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice scheduled to start on March 4. Rice seeks to shepherd Israel and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas toward a peace agreement that President George W. Bush expects by the end of the year.

``We clearly say the rocket attacks must stop,'' Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Voice of Palestine radio. He called on Hamas to prevent the rocket attacks, accusing the Islamic militant movement of trying to profit politically from the bloodshed.

Abbas was contacting world leaders, the Arab League and U.N. officials in an effort to stop the Israeli military offensive, the president's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told journalists.

Ground Forces

Israeli ground forces entered the Gaza Strip late yesterday, clashing with armed Palestinians, an army spokeswoman said, speaking anonymously in accordance with regulations. The forces hit more than 23 militants, and five soldiers were wounded in the clashes, she said.

More than 30 rockets were launched at Israel from Gaza today, she added, of which six hit the coastal city of Ashkelon, home to more than 110,000 people. Two children and one woman were wounded in the attacks, she said.

U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey called the rocket attacks ``unacceptable'' in a briefing in Washington yesterday and said they must stop.

Palestinian negotiators have said the violence must cease before talks can move ahead. Ashraf Jum'a, a Gaza-based lawmaker from Abbas's Fatah movement, called on negotiators to halt all talks in response to the Israeli military offensive.

Political Response

``We expect a firm political response from the Palestinian negotiator to the horrible massacres against the Palestinian people,'' Jum'a said on Voice of Palestine.

The rocket attacks on Ashkelon, 17 kilometers (11 miles) from Gaza, and the death of a college student on a campus in the southern town of Sderot on Feb. 28, have increased calls for more extensive military operations.

In the Israeli port city of Ashdod, home to more than 200,000 people and lying 43 kilometers north of Gaza and 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, the municipality was readying for possible rocket attacks, Ha'aretz said.

Israel has so far responded to the Gaza rockets with limited ground operations, air strikes and an economic blockade of the enclave.

Israeli Defense Minster Ehud Barak yesterday blamed Hamas for the escalating violence, according to the daily Ha'aretz. ``Hamas is directly responsible for the current situation and will be the one to bear the cost of our response,'' Barak said during a visit to Ashkelon, adding that ``an Israeli response is necessary and will be carried out.''

Hamas Control

Hamas has ruled Gaza since June, when it ousted forces loyal to Abbas and ended a partnership government with his Fatah movement. Israel is engaged in peace talks with Abbas while fighting Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction.

``Israel will take steady and unrelenting measures to bring rocket attacks to an end,'' David Baker, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said by phone yesterday. ``We will not be deterred and continue to employ all means necessary.''

Human rights groups have criticized Israel for restricting electricity and fuel to the Hamas-ruled area. Hassanein warned today of a pending crisis, saying that hospitals were running out of fuel and medicine as the violence continued.

Hamas pledged to continue fighting in a press release to reporters in Gaza. ``We tell the Zionist enemy that our people are steadfast, will not surrender and will not kneel down even if they lose 1,000 martyrs,'' the statement said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.net; Saud Abu Ramadan in Gaza City through the Jerusalem bureau at .

Last Updated: March 1, 2008 10:21 EST