23 killed as Jewish state ravages Gaza

GAZA CITY: Twenty-three Palestinians were killed, among them seven children from the same family, in multiple Israeli attacks in Gaza Wednesday in which a top Hamas militant leader was reportedly wounded. The latest deaths came as Israel pushed a new offensive in the impoverished territory aimed at securing the release of a soldier captured more than two weeks ago and ending rocket attacks on the Jewish state.

A total of 75 Palestinians have now been killed since Israel stepped up its massive ground assault into Gaza last Wednesday in a bid to secure the release of the missing teenage soldier and to halt rocket fire.

Nine Palestinians, including seven children from the same family, were killed and a Hamas militant leader was reportedly wounded in an air strike that destroyed the Gaza home of a political leader in the Islamist movement.

The armed wing of the governing Palestinian movement, which claimed joint responsibility for the capture of a soldier on June 25, sparking a three-week Israeli aerial offensive, swiftly vowed a "strong and painful" response.

Israel said Mohammad Deif, the leader of Hamas' armed wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades who is believed to be the mastermind behind a wave of suicide bombings in the 1990s, was wounded.

A Palestinian medical source confirmed to AFP that Deif had been operated on but his life was not in danger, with another three Hamas military leaders being treated at the hospital.

But Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Qassem Brigades, denied Deif had been hurt and slammed the "deceitful information intended to cover up Zionist crimes."

Medical sources said the nine dead were all from the same family and included a Hamas political leader, Nabil Abu Salmeeyah, who owned the house and taught at the Islamic University, his wife and five of their children.

Security sources said an F-16 jet demolished the house in the latest wave of air strikes in Israel's deadly offensive launched two weeks ago that has killed 70 Palestinians.

"Our reaction to this massacre will be painful and strong for the Zionists and we will make the enemy leadership sorry for their crime," the Qassam Brigades vowed.

More than 30 people were wounded in the attack, a medical source told AFP.

The air strike was preceded by a large-scale incursion into the central Gaza Strip, east of Deir al-Balah refugee camp, penetrating up to one kilometer inside the territory.

Fourteen other Palestinians died in Israeli attacks elsewhere in Gaza, including two policeman and seven gunmen, medical sources said.

One of those militants to die belonged to the Popular Resistance Committees, which together with the military wing of Hamas and a third group claimed the June 25 capture of an Israeli soldier.

Israel has flatly refused to negotiate with Hamas or free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit, vowing the assault will continue "in places, in time, in measures" at its convenience.

Aid groups have expressed concern about the difficulties of providing assistance to 1.4 million people living in Gaza following months of financial crisis and the suspension of direct Western aid to the Hamas-led government.