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UN Demands End to Gaza Strip Violence as 72 Palestinians Killed


A funeral in Gaza

March 3 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations demanded an end to escalating violence in the Gaza Strip as an Israeli ground and air offensive against militants firing rockets killed more than 70 Palestinians.

The Security Council expressed concern about the loss of civilian life and said the fighting ``must not be allowed to deter the political process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, aimed at establishing two states,'' Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the body's monthly rotating presidency, said yesterday.

Israel began its offensive late Feb. 29 in response to an increase in the number and range of Palestinian rocket attacks. About 150 rockets have been fired at Israel in the past six days, some of them hitting Ashkelon, a city of 110,000 residents that lies 17 kilometers (11 miles) from Gaza, the army said in a statement yesterday.

Four Palestinian militants were killed early today as Israeli aircraft raided Gaza City and the navy shelled the Gaza Strip, Agence France-Presse reported, citing an unidentified Palestinian security official.

``Let it be clear that Israel has no intention to stop the fighting for a single moment,'' Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in comments broadcast on army radio as the Cabinet met in Jerusalem yesterday. ``If anyone is under the illusion that extending the range of the Qassam and Grad rockets will cause us to limit our operations, that's a serious mistake.''

Air Raid

Israeli forces attacked Hamas's headquarters in the Gaza Strip early yesterday. The air raid destroyed the three-story building in Gaza City that housed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Hania's offices, while others hit three arms depots and three weapons workshops, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Ten Palestinians were killed yesterday, bringing the number of Palestinian dead to 72, Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance services in Gaza, said by phone.

Three Israelis, including two soldiers and a civilian, have been killed.

Rocket attacks ``serve no purpose, endanger Israeli civilians and bring misery to the Palestinian people,'' Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement to the Security Council as its meeting began in New York late March 1.

Ban condemned the ``disproportionate and excessive use of force'' by the Israeli military and said it must ``exercise the utmost restraint.''

Bush Administration

President George W. Bush's administration, which wants a peace agreement by the end of the year, called for an end to the fighting. ``The violence needs to stop and the talks need to resume,'' White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in Crawford, Texas.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to visit the Middle East this week as she tries to shepherd Israel and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas toward an accord.

The Hamas movement, which seized control of Gaza last June ending a partnership with Abbas, opposes peace talks.

Abbas said two days ago he was suspending the talks, lead Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia said. Saeb Erekat, a member of the team, told reporters that the negotiations have been ``buried under the rubble of the destroyed homes in Gaza.''

About 15 rockets were fired into Israel yesterday as of 5:30 p.m. local time, one hitting a house in Ashkelon and another a factory in Sderot, an army spokeswoman said.

Israeli Civilians

Four Israeli civilians yesterday sustained injuries serious enough to require hospital care, a spokesman for the Magen David Adom emergency medical services said.

Wounded Palestinians were being evacuated to Egypt, Ayman Taha, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told reporters. Most of the ground fighting was in the northern Gaza Strip and the streets of Gaza City were empty as Israeli drones and helicopters flew sorties round the clock.

Israel has been pressuring Hamas-ruled Gaza for the past two years with economic sanctions and limited military operations. Calls have been growing in Israel for more extensive military action as Palestinian rocket attacks have widened to encompass Ashkelon and a college student was killed on a campus in the southern town of Sderot on Feb. 28.

To contact the reporters on this story: David Rosenberg in Jerusalem at drosenberg1@bloomberg.net; Saud Abu Ramadan in Gaza City through the Jerusalem bureau at .

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net.

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