Egypt's PM in Gaza as Israel calls up 16,000 reservists
Egypt's Prime Minister has arrived in Gaza for a brief visit, to try to secure a peace deal.
The territory's ruling Hamas group has been accused of launching rocket attacks at Israel, and its military has responded with airstrikes.
Israel has started calling up 16,000 reservists as it prepares for a possible ground offensive into the Gaza Strip.
Israeli aircraft pummelled the rocket arsenals of Gaza militants and troops, tanks and armoured personnel carriers massed near Israel’s southern border with the Palestinian territory.
Fighting between the two sides escalated sharply yesterday with a first-ever militant attack on the Tel Aviv area, menacing Israel’s heartland.
No casualties were reported, but three people died in the country’s rocket-scarred south when a projectile slammed into an apartment building.
The death toll in the densely populated Palestinian territory climbed to 19, including five children, as waves of Israeli fighter planes and drones sent missiles hurtling down on suspected weapons stores and rocket-launching sites.
The fighting has already widened the instability gripping a region in the throes of war and regime upheavals.
