'Israeli air strikes' target Gaza

[TriWooOx]

Quote:Residents in the Gaza Strip say Israeli F-16 bombers have launched a series of air strikes into the territory.

Multiple explosions sounded in several places in and around Gaza City, they said. Early reports spoke of dozens of people injured and several killed.

Palestinian sources say Israeli missiles targeted security compounds in the heart of Gaza City belonging to the militant group Hamas.

A truce between Israel and Palestinian militants expired last week.

There was no immediate word on the explosions from the Israeli military.

Offensive planned?

Early casualty reports suggested the death toll from the air strikes would be high: medics in Gaza told the AFP news agency that 18 people had been killed.

Unconfirmed reports from local journalists in Gaza said as many as 200 people may have been injured, says the BBC's Paul Wood in Jerusalem, although there is no way to verify this figure immediately.

Our correspondent says the air strikes are the most intense Israel has launched against Gaza for some time, and may indicate that a ground operation is imminent.

Israeli security officials have been briefing about the possibility of a ground offensive into Gaza for some days now.

They have suggested that a new operation could be launched against Palestinian militants who fire rockets at targets inside Israel.

But it had been expected that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would not authorise any operation until Sunday at the earliest.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_...800985.stm