Civilians take brunt of 7th day of Gaza offensive

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - The civilian death toll climbed in Israel's air offensive against the Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinian Islamists vowed revenge for the killing of a senior Hamas leader and his family.

There was no sign of a cease-fire on the seventh day of the conflict, in which at least 429 Palestinians have been killed and 2,000 wounded, but a Palestinian official told Reuters that Egypt had begun exploratory talks with Hamas to halt the bloodshed.

A United Nations agency said more than a quarter of those killed in Gaza were civilians. A leading Palestinian human rights group put it at 40 percent.

Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal urged Arabs in a televised speech from Damascus to step up aid to Gaza and to send medical teams. European and Arab countries had contacted Hamas to discuss ending the fighting, but he did not name them.

The senior Palestinian official, who declined to be named and who has been close to previous talks between Egypt and Hamas, said the aim of the talks included promoting ideas that would culminate in a new truce.

Four Israelis have been killed by Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza, which strike southern cities and towns at random and cause property damage and panic among the local population.

Meshaal warned Israel that Hamas would resist any Israeli ground invasion of the strip and might abduct soldiers. Militants said all options including suicide bombings were now open to "strike at Zionist interests everywhere."

"If you commit a foolish act by raiding Gaza, who knows, we may have a second or a third or a fourth Shalit," Meshaal said. Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped more than two years ago.