Israel sends reservists into Gaza but says end may be near

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Israel poured reservists into the Gaza Strip on Monday as heavy clashes brought the death toll from its war on Hamas to 900 even as officials said that an end to the fighting might be in sight.

Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza's main city, as warplanes carried out nearly 60 air strikes on the 16th day of a war launched to combat Palestinian rocket fire, which has continued despite the offensive.

An Israeli private television channel said the army had begun sending in some of the thousands of reservists called up when the war began, and an army spokesman said they would be increasingly "integrated" into combat units.

Civilians again fell victim in the impoverished and isolated Palestinian enclave, one of the world's most crowded territories where half of the 1.5 million residents are less than 18 years old.

Two women and four children were killed in a strike on a house in Beit Lahiya, medics and witnesses said.

Israeli officials suggested the end might be close to its offensive despite its rejection of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

"The decision of the (UN) Security Council doesn't give us much leeway," Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told public radio.

"Thus it would seem that we are close to ending the ground operation and ending the operation altogether."

Earlier, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel was nearing the goals it had set for its operation, but that fighting would continue for now.

"Israel is approaching these goals, but more patience and determination are required," Olmert told a cabinet meeting.

Israel has "dealt Hamas an unprecedented blow," government secretary Oved Yehezkel quoted him as telling ministers. "It will never be the same Hamas."

Israeli forces have demolished some 200 smuggling tunnels beneath the Gaza-Egypt border -- Hamas's main resupply route -- representing two-thirds of the total, military spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said.

Hamas, which also ignored the Security Council resolution, has vowed to keep on fighting. On Sunday, 19 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza, including four military-grade Grad rockets, without wounding anyone.

Early on Sunday, troops entered the narrow streets of Gaza City's southern Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, encountering roadside bombs, mortar and gunfire from Palestinian fighters, witnesses said.

They withdrew at daybreak, but hundreds of panicked residents fled the area, clutching small children and hastily packed bags after a sleepless night.

"We couldn't take anything with us, not even milk for the children," said Ibtisam Shamallah, 22, as she fled with her two children.

Twelve bodies were later pulled from the rubble in Tal al-Hawa, including 10 fighters, medics said. In all, at least 26 Palestinians were killed in clashes on Sunday, they said.

Egypt has spearheaded Western-backed efforts to end the fighting, calling for an immediate truce, opening Gaza's border crossings, preventing arms smuggling and relaunching Palestinian reconciliation efforts.

On Sunday, it ramped up pressure on Israel by summoning its ambassador to demand that the Jewish state comply with the Security Council resolution and open humanitarian corridors to relieve the besieged territory.

It also held what it said were positive talks with a Hamas team, saying the Islamists agreed "on the importance of ... stopping the shedding of Palestinian blood as soon as possible."

Osama Hamdan, Hamas's representative in Lebanon, told Al-Jazeera television afterwards that "there was some progress on some points" of the Egyptian proposal.

"We reject parts of this proposal ... but that does not mean rejection of all the proposal." He added without elaborating that there had been no progress "on some of the sensitive points."

Hamas's exiled political chief, Khaled Meshaal, has vowed that his group will not discuss any kind of ceasefire until the Israeli offensive stops.

"As long as there is an occupation, there is a resistance," he said.

The Egyptian-Hamas talks were due to resume later on Monday, and senior Israeli defence official Amos Gilad was to return to Cairo for more talks with the Egyptians.

Since the Israeli onslaught began on December 27, at least 890 people have been killed, including 275 children, and another 3,800 wounded, according to Dr Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or in rocket attacks since the operation began. Palestinian militants have fired more than 600 rockets, some of them penetrating deeper than ever inside Israel.

The conflict has sparked worldwide pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and US president elect Barack Obama said he is assembling a team of diplomats to start addressing the Middle East conflict once he is sworn in on January 20.