Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement Israeli F-16 bombers have pounded key targets across the Gaza Strip, killing more than 200 people, local medics say. Most of those killed were policemen in the Hamas militant movement, which controls Gaza, but women and children also died, the Gaza officials said. About 700 others were wounded, as missiles struck security compounds and militant bases, the officials said. Israel said it was responding to an escalation in rocket attacks from Gaza and would bomb "as long as necessary". They were the heaviest Israeli attacks on Gaza for decades. More air raids were launched as night fell. The operation came days after a truce with Hamas expired. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said "it won't be easy and it won't be short". "There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight," he said. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate halt to the violence, condemning what he called Israel's "excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians" and "the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants". Middle East envoy Tony Blair and the French EU presidency also urged an immediate ceasefire. Palestinian militants frequently fire rockets against Israeli towns from inside the Gaza Strip; large numbers of rocket and mortar shells have been fired at Israel in recent days. In a statement, Israel's military said it targeted "Hamas terror operatives" as well as training camps and weapons storage warehouses. Hamas bases destroyed
A Hamas police spokesman, Islam Shahwan, said one of the raids targeted a police compound in Gaza City where a graduation ceremony for new personnel was taking place. At least a dozen bodies of men in black uniforms were photographed at the Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City. Hamas will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood
Fawzi Barhoum
Hamas spokesman
In pictures: Gaza attack aftermath UK concern over Gaza raid Malnutrition and shortages in Gaza Israel warns Hamas over rockets Israel said operations "will continue, will be expanded, and will deepen if necessary". It is the worst attack in Gaza since 1967 in terms of the number of Palestinian casualties, a senior analyst told the BBC in Jerusalem. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni defended the air raids, saying Israel had "no choice". "We're doing what we need to do to defend our citizens," she said in a television broadcast. Israel hit targets across Gaza, striking in the territory's main population centres, including Gaza City in the north and the southern towns of Khan Younis and Rafah. Hamas said all of its security compounds in Gaza were destroyed by the air strikes, which Israel said hit some 40 targets. Mosques issued urgent appeals for people to donate blood and Hamas sources told the BBC's Rushdi Abou Alouf in Gaza that hospitals were soon full. In the West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - whose Fatah faction was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 - condemned the attacks and called for restraint. But Hamas quickly vowed to carry out revenge attacks on Israel in response to the air strikes, firing Qassam rockets into Israeli territory as an immediate reply. One Israeli was killed by a rocket strike on the town of Netivot, 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Gaza, doctors said. "Hamas will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood," spokesman Fawzi Barhoum was reported as saying. The air strikes come amid rumours that an Israeli ground operation is imminent. Calls for ceasefire World leaders urged both sides to halt the violence. Civilians were caught up in the air strikes in heavily-populated Gaza A White House spokesman said the United States "urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza". "Hamas' continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop," the spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, added. The UK Foreign Office said: "We urge maximum restraint to avoid further civilian casualties." At least 30 missiles were fired by F-16 fighter bombers. Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that about 60 warplanes took part in the first wave of air strikes. Egypt opened its border crossing to the Gaza Strip at Rafah to absorb and treat some of those injured in the south of the territory. Most of the dead and injured were said to be in Gaza City, where Hamas's main security compound was destroyed. The head of Gaza's police forces, Tawfik Jaber, was reportedly among those killed. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Residents spoke of children heading to and from school at the time of the attacks, and there were fears of civilian casualties. Israeli security officials have been briefing about the possibility of a new offensive into Gaza for some days now, says the BBC's Paul Wood, in Jerusalem. But most reports centred on the possibility of a ground offensive, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was not expected to authorise any operation until Sunday at the earliest. Although a six-month truce between Hamas and Israel was agreed earlier this year, it was regularly under strain and was allowed to lapse when it expired this month. Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire, saying it had not respected its terms, including the lifting of the blockade under which little more than humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza. Israel said it initially began a staged easing of the blockade, but this was halted when Hamas failed to fulfil what Israel says were agreed conditions, including ending all rocket fire and halting weapons smuggling. Israel says the blockade - in place since Hamas took control of Gaza in June 2007 - is needed to isolate Hamas and stop it and other militants from firing rockets across the border at Israeli towns.
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Palestinian-Israeli conflict area and War on Terrorism around the Gaza strip
Israel has launched with at least 30 simultaneous missiles strikes on Hamas installations in Gaza City, causing heavy damage. F-16 fighters targeted security compounds in the city’s centre.

The “massive” air strikes on Saturday have claimed at least 220 lives, including Gaza police chief Maj. Gen. Tawfiq Jaber. More than 700 were injured, while others were still buried under the rubble, according to Health Ministry officer Moawiya Hassanain. Gaza City hospitals, including Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s main treatment center, are crowded with wounded victims. In response thirteen rockets and mortar shells had also hit southern Israel on Friday, damaging an unoccupied house. 

Meanwhile, Hamas declared  it would retaliate, by launching rocket attacks on and sending suicide bombers to Israel. “Hamas will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood,” warned Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas’ rival,  says he “condemns this aggression” and calls for restraint.
Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hits southern Ashkelon in Israel.

When the Egyptian-mediated truce terminated last week, Israel warned of their potential to launch a major offensive on Gaza, amid senior leaders’ call to topple Hamas. “I will not hesitate to use Israel’s strength to strike at Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on Thursday, issuing a dire warning that ”tens of thousands of children and innocents” would be at risk “as a result of Hamas’ actions.” Defense Minister Ehud Barak says Israel has temporarily opened some border crossings Friday to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in response to the international community’s pleas.

Two hours after IAF missiles targeted Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian gunmen launched on Saturday a massive attack with Qassam rockets on Israeli territory. Seven struck Ashkelon, killing one person, while another suffered serious injuries, and four others were moderately wounded when their house was hit. They were rushed to the Soroka hospital in Beersheva. 

According to the IDF, Hamas militants had further launched more than 110 rockets since Saturday, IDF says. Meanwhile, a Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour has called on the United Nations to condemn the deadly violence. "There is no justification for punishing 1.5 million in the Gaza Strip because of the actions of a few. We hope we don't fail in having a reaction from the Security Council tonight," he said. Dr Moawiya Hassanein has said "we have counted 271 dead and 620 wounded since Saturday."

The 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, referred to as "Operation Cast Lead" (מבצע עופרת יצוקה - also known as "Operation Solid Lead") by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), is an Israeli air strike operation launched on December 27, 2008 at 11:30 am local time (9:30 am UTC) against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials justified the offensive as a retaliation against daily Palestinian Qassam rocket and mortar fire on Israel's southern communities.