Israel pounds Gaza Strip from air and sea

Israel is continuing its assault on the Gaza Strip for a fifth straight day, bombarding the Palestinian enclave from both the air and sea. Several strikes hit Gaza City on Sunday morning. Huge plumes of smoke were billowing in the sky after a security building was hit and there were reports of injuries. An air raid before dawn targeted a building housing the offices of local Arab media, wounding several journalists from al-Quds television, a station Israel sees as a mouthpiece of the Hamas movement which rules the Gaza Strip. "At least six journalists were wounded, with minor and moderate injuries, when Israeli warplanes hit the al-Quds TV office in the Showa and Housari building in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City," health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told the AFP news agency, adding that one journalist lost his leg. Witnesses reported extensive damage to the building, and said journalists had evacuated after an initial strike, which was followed by at least two more on the site. A second media centre, housing several international media outlets, was targeted later on Sunday morning. Sky News, al-Arabiya, and the official Hamas-run channel al-Aqsa TV have offices in the building. Qudra said two journalists were injured in the attack. An Israeli military spokeswoman said a rooftop "transmission antenna used by Hamas to carry out terror activity" had been targeted. Two other attacks on houses in the Jebalya refugee camp killed one child and wounded 12 other people, medical officials said. Rockets fired Gaza has been under attack since Wednesday, when Israel launched a military offensive with the declared goal of deterring Gaza fighters from launching rockets into its territory. Forty-eight Palestinians, about half of them civilians, including 13 children, have been killed in Israel's raids, Palestinian officials said. More than 500 rockets fired from Gaza have hit Israel, killing three people and injuring dozens. Rocket fire from Gaza into Israel subsided during the night but resumed in the morning with at least six rockets fired towards the nearby coastal city of Ashkelon, the Israeli army said. Four of them were intercepted by the so-called Iron Dome, Israel's a missile-defence system meant to shoot down rockets and artillery shells fired at populated areas. One person was lightly injured by one of the other rockets, the army said. "As of now we have struck more than 1,000 targets, so Hamas should do the math over whether it is or isn't worth it to cease fire," Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said over Twitter. "If there is quiet in the South and no rockets and missiles are fired at Israel's citizens nor terrorist attacks engineered from the Gaza Strip, we will not attack." Israel said it would keep schools in its south shut on Sunday as a precaution to avoid casualties from rocket strikes reaching as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the past few days. The military said Israeli aircraft had targeted dozens of underground rocket launchers overnight, "causing severe damage to the rocket launching capabilities of Hamas and other terror organisations". Naval attacks It also confirmed that its navy has shelled Gaza, hitting targets on the northern Gaza shore line. "These naval ships are off the coast of Gaza year-round," Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston, reporting from Sderot in southern Israel, said. "It now seems a lot of shelling is coming from these ships into Gaza City." An Israeli attack on Saturday destroyed the house of a Hamas commander near the Egyptian border. Palestinians inspect a destroyed house after an air strike in Gaza City [Reuters] Israeli aircraft also bombed Hamas government buildings, including the offices of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and a police headquarters. Hamas remained defiant, with its military spokesman Abu Ubaida insisting that despite Israel's blows the movement "is still strong enough to destroy the enemy". "This round of confrontation will not be the last against the Zionist enemy and it is only the beginning," he told a televised news conference. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said on Saturday there were "some indications" a ceasefire could be reached soon, but he had no firm guarantees. Morsi told reporters in Cairo his government was in "vigorous" communication with both Israel and the Palestinians. Egypt, which brokered an informal truce in October that has since collapsed, has said it is working for a new deal after its Prime Minister Hesham Qandil visited Gaza on Friday. Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal was in Cairo for talks, a senior Hamas official said. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius left Paris on Sunday for Israel "to call on all the parties to stop the escalation and offer France's help to reach an immediate ceasefire," his ministry said. During his one-day trip, the minister will meet the Israeli authorities and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, his ministry said in a statement.