Israel kills 31 Palestinians in Gaza raid

A total of 66 Palestinians have been killed in four days of Israeli air strikes and raids in the tiny Hamas-controlled coastal territory, home to 1.5 million people, straddling Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean.

The Jewish state said it was responding to cross-border rockets which killed an Israeli man in the border town of Sderot on Wednesday and wounded others in the major southern city of Ashkelon.

The United States urged Israel to 'consider the consequences' of any action ahead of next week's visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

More bloodshed could derail Washington's hopes of a peace deal before President George W Bush steps down next January.

Of the 31 killed on Saturday, 16 were civilians and the rest militants, according to hospital staff and the Islamist Hamas movement, which seized control of Gaza last June after routing the more secular forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

One of the dead civilians was a mother who was preparing breakfast for her children when she was hit by gunfire, relatives and medical workers said. A girl and her brother were also among the dead.

Witnesses said fighting erupted after Israel soldiers, backed by helicopter gunships, entered northern Gaza and were confronted by Palestinian gunmen.

Palestinian officials said Israeli forces advanced towards the towns of Beit Hanoun and Jabalya, the deepest incursion in several months. The Israeli army confirmed its forces were operating in the area and that five soldiers had been lightly wounded.

An Army spokeswoman said about 20 rockets were fired into Israel on Saturday, including three Soviet-designed Grad missiles, which are more powerful and accurate than improvised, locally produced Qassams.

Three Israelis were lightly injured by rockets that reached deep into Ashkelon, a city of some 120,000 people.

Israeli leaders said they may have no choice but to launch a broader offensive in the Gaza Strip if Palestinian militants do not stop rocket attacks on the Jewish state.

"As long as events escalate, the chances that we will use greater force increases," Deputy Israeli Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told Israel Radio.

MOUNTING ANGER

On Friday, Vilnai warned Gazans they risked a 'shoah' if rocket fire did not end.

An aide said Vilnai meant 'disaster' rather than 'holocaust', the word's more common meaning. The strength of his language reflected mounting anger after Wednesday's killing.

Hazem Abu Shanab, a senior member of Abbas's Fatah faction in Gaza, called the Israeli incursion a 'real massacre against all of us'.

Hamas officials said there had been an 'international silence' over the 'massacre', including from fellow Arabs.

Abbas, who remains hostile to Hamas, called Israel's threats and preparations to target Gaza 'dangerous'. The high death toll could increase pressure on Abbas to suspend peace talks with Israel, which withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 after 38 years.

Though rocket fire has long disrupted life in southern Israeli towns, the killing of the Israeli on Wednesday -- the first death of its kind since May -- has put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to increase military action.