Casualties mount as Gaza conflict enters sixth day

Palestinian medics say Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 21 Palestinians in the deadliest day of Israel’s five-day offensive to stop rocket fire by Gaza militants onto its territory.

Sunday’s 30 deaths in Gaza, including the deaths of seven civilians on Monday, have brought the total number of Palestinians killed to 87 since the Israeli air strikes began targeting the Hamas-ruled territory six days ago.

Israeli warplanes struck several buildings in Gaza City on Sunday, including a multi-story house where the medics say at least 11 civilians were killed, mostly women and children. It is not clear whether militants were among the casualties.

On their part, fighters in Gaza continued to fire rockets into Israel. Two of them, aimed at the commercial hub of Tel Aviv, were shot down by Israel’s anti-missile system, police said.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ilana Stein says that one of the air strikes was aimed at the Hamas commander of rocket operations in northern Gaza, but that his fate is not known. She acknowledged that some Gaza civilians have been killed by Israeli warplanes targeting militants.

The Israeli military reported at least 114 rockets fired against Israel Sunday. The military says the Iron Dome defense system intercepted 36 rockets, including several aimed at Tel Aviv, the fourth straight day the city has been targeted. Other rockets struck residential areas in southern Israel, wounding about 10 civilians, five of them in a car that was hit in the town of Ofakim.

U.S. President Barack Obama says efforts to resolve the fighting must begin with Gaza militants ending their rocket barrage of Israel. He spoke on Sunday while on a visit to the Thailand.

Obama reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself and said it would be “preferable” to end the missile fire without an Israeli escalation of its offensive. Obama said he has had several conversations with the leaders of Israel, Egypt and Turkey in recent days to try to achieve that goal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he is prepared to “significantly expand” operations against Gaza militants. His government has massed thousands of troops on Israel’s border with Gaza in preparation for a possible ground invasion of the Hamas-run territory.

An Israeli official arrived in Cairo for Egyptian-mediated talks on a potential truce with Hamas. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement has ideological ties to the Palestinian group. Cairo also maintains a peace agreement with Israel.

While in Bangkok, Obama said that supporters of the Palestinian cause should recognize that further escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict would mean that efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process will be “pushed way into the future.”

In Sunday’s strikes on Gaza, Israeli warplanes also attacked two adjacent buildings housing media offices, wounding eight journalists, one of whom lost a leg. Israel’s military said it attacked communications equipment used by Hamas and urged reporters to stay away from militant positions and operatives.

The media rights group Reporters Without Borders condemned Israel, accusing it of obstructing freedom of information. The group also demanded an immediate end to such attacks. Israel says it has no intention of harming members of the foreign media and that it continues to allow them to enter Gaza to do their work.

Israel began its offensive with a November 14 air strike that killed Hamas’s military leader in Gaza. It said the attack was in response to weeks of intensifying rocket fire from Gaza on southern Israeli communities.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned Israel that it would lose international sympathy and support if it initiates a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian officials say at least 72 Gazans have been killed since violence erupted Wednesday. Israel says three Israelis have been killed.

On Saturday, Israeli strikes leveled the Gaza office of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his Cabinet. Haniyeh was not there at the time.

Also Saturday, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi hosted leaders from Hamas and two key allies, Qatar and Turkey, to seek a way to end the fighting. He said