GAZA CITY, Gaza (CNN) -- Israeli aircraft continued their assault on Gaza Sunday, despite an Israeli official's assessment that the two-week-old military operation may be in its final days.
Israel has said the air and ground operation is aimed at stopping rocket fire from Gaza, but militants have continued to launch rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel.
At least 17 rockets struck Israel on Sunday, causing some damage but no casualties, an Israeli military spokesman said.
Israel may be close to "the end of the operation" because of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Sunday.
"The decision of the U.N. Security Council doesn't leave us much leeway," Vilnai told Israel Radio. "It would seem then, I'm guessing, that we are close to the end of the ground operation and the end of the operation altogether."
The U.N. resolution was rejected by both Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that "further patience" is needed, despite the fact that "Israel is nearing the goals it set" for its military operation in Gaza.
"We must not, at the last minute, lose what has been achieved in an unprecedented national effort that restored the spirit of unity to the nation," Olmert said. "The Israeli public, especially the residents of the south, have the requisite patience and willingness -- so does the government."
Israeli soldiers on Sunday closed in on Gaza City from the north and the south. Residents said heavy shelling and large plumes of black smoke emanated from the city. Also, there was heavy gunfire in northeast Gaza from a location where two rockets were launched toward Israel on Sunday.
Palestinian medical sources said Israeli attacks Sunday morning killed four Palestinians, including a pregnant woman. This would bring to at least 828 the number killed in Gaza since the start of the fighting 15 days ago, according to the medical sources.
Medical sources said among the dead were 235 children, 92 women, 62 elderly people, four local journalists and 12 medics. Another 3,340 people have been wounded, they said.
Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers, have died in the fighting.
An Israeli envoy was expected to return to Cairo by Monday to talk to Egyptian officials who are trying to negotiate an end to the fighting.
For a fourth day, Israel announced a three-hour "lull" in attacks Sunday to allow Gaza residents to leave their homes to stock up on supplies. The halt in attacks started at 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET).
Israeli aircraft attacked at least 60 targets throughout Gaza overnight, including a mosque in southern Gaza allegedly used to store Hamas weapons and to train militants, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday.
The mosque was "used for storing weaponry such as machine guns and sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles," the IDF said. "The mosque was also used as a training camp and a gathering place for Hamas members."
Other targets early Sunday included 10 weapons storage sites, including some houses of Hamas members, the IDF said.
The home of Ahmed Jabri, the chief of Hamas' military wing, was also struck by Israeli missiles, the IDF said.
Nine tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Rafa from Egypt were also attacked, the IDF said.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/11/israel.gaza/index.html
Topic: Israel calls for 'further patience' to meet Gaza goals (Read 554 times)