Israel launched air strikes on Gaza for a second successive day on Sunday, piling pressure on Hamas after 229 people were killed in one of the bloodiest 24 hours for Palestinians in 60 years of conflict with the Jewish state, Reuters reported.
" Palestine has never seen an uglier massacre," said Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his Islamist group, which has controlled the coastal territory since June 2007, vowed revenge including suicide bombings in Israel's "cafes and streets."
Israel bolstered armoured and infantry forces along the Gaza Strip border, and a military spokesman said on Sunday: "The ( Gaza) operation is continuous. It is still taking place."
The Jewish state said it was responding to "intolerable" almost daily rocket and mortar fire by Gaza militants that intensified after Hamas ended a six-month cease-fire a week ago.
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The militant attacks caused some injuries and Israeli leaders were under pressure to stop them ahead of a February 10 election, which opinion polls show the right-wing opposition Likud party may win.
Israel said its warplanes mounted about 100 strikes on Saturday and that Palestinian militants had fired some 70 rockets at the Jewish state, killing one Israeli man.
"There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight," Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on television. He later ruled out any new truce with Hamas.
Black smoke billowed over Gaza City after Israel bombed more than 40 security compounds, and uniformed bodies lay in a pile and the wounded writhed in pain at a graduation ceremony for new recruits hosted by Hamas.
Some rescue workers beat their heads and shouted, "God is greatest." A wounded man quietly recited verses from the Koran.
More than 700 Palestinians were wounded in Saturday's attacks, said medical staff.
Israel said the operation was aimed at "terrorist infrastructure," and outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said it "may take time." Officials said Hamas leaders could be targeted.
