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Israel shuns truce calls on Day Four of Gaza blitz
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-31 00:16


Israeli soldiers stand atop an armoured personnel carrier just outside the northern Gaza Strip December 30, 2008. [Agencies] 

Three Israelis -- two civilians and one soldier -- were killed on Monday by rockets fired from Gaza, with one slamming into the southern port city of Ashdod more than 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the border.

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Hamas has warned it could launch suicide attacks inside Israel for the first time since January 2005.

Since the massive aerial attack was unleashed on Saturday in a bid to halt persistent rocket fire from Gaza, at least 363 Palestinians, including 39 children, have been killed and 1,720 wounded, Gaza medics say.

Palestinian militants have also fired more than 250 rockets, killing four people inside Israel and wounding around two dozen more.

Rebuffing Arab appeals, Israel's main ally Washington gave the offensive strong support but said it was also working behind the scenes to forge a truce.

"The United States understands that Israel needs to take actions to defend itself," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was speaking to key world leaders and diplomats to find a lasting way to end the violence, officials said.

At the United Nations, Ban said he was "deeply alarmed" by the "unacceptable" escalation of violence. "Both Israel and Hamas must halt their acts of violence and... a ceasefire must be declared immediately," he said.

EU foreign ministers were set to meet in Paris later on Tuesday to discuss how they can work to help ease the crisis in Gaza.