Israeli airstrikes kill 15 in Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM — Border hostilities between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip continued for a second day Thursday as Israeli airstrikes killed 15 Palestinians, including five boys, while a Gaza-launched rocket struck a home in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon.

Thursday's airstrikes brought the Palestinian death toll to 29 during the two-day burst of violence. In Israel, officials said more than 60 Qassam and Grad rockets had been launched out of Gaza over the two days. A college student in southern Israel died in an attack Wednesday; no Israeli deaths or significant injuries were reported in Thursday's attacks.

The surge in hostilities has built pressure on the Israeli government to move decisively against the rocket threat and uproot the militant group Hamas, which seized full control of Gaza in June.

"We must prepare for continued escalation," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said. "Hamas will pay the price for its actions."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, on a trip in Japan, said the rocket attacks from Gaza are "testing Israel's patience" to its limit.

But despite rising public anger, some officials and observers warned Thursday against a large-scale invasion and reoccupation of the coastal strip that is home to an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians.

"It will not solve the problem. It must be remembered that the Qassams were flying while we were still in Gaza," retired Gen. Danny Rothschild said in a radio interview Thursday. "You may know when you go in to Gaza, but you never know when you'll get out."

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter also rejected the idea during a visit to Sapir College in Sderot, where on Wednesday the 47-year-old student was killed by shrapnel.

Another rocket struck the Sapir College campus just before Dichter arrived Thursday, injuring one of his bodyguards.

According to witness reports, five of the Palestinian victims Thursday were boys, all younger than 16, who were playing soccer when an Israeli missile struck.

Also among the Palestinian dead was Hamza Haya, son of prominent Hamas leader Khalil Haya. At the morgue of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, the elder Haya eulogized his son, who was a leader of a rocket-launching militant cell.

"I thank God for this gift," said Haya, who last year escaped an Israeli assassination attempt that killed his brother. "This is the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom."

Israeli missiles also struck near the home of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. But Haniyeh, like many Hamas senior leaders, has been in hiding for several weeks.

Another airstrike destroyed a medical clinic funded by the international NGO Oxfam International as well as the headquarters of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society.

U.S. deploys Cole near Lebanon coast

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy is sending three ships to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in a show of strength during a period of tensions with Syria and political uncertainty in Lebanon.

The guided-missile destroyer, the USS Cole, was headed for patrol in the eastern Mediterranean and accompanied by two refueling ships.

The Cole was rebuilt after nearly being sunk in a terrorist attack in Aden, Yemen, in October 2000 that killed 17 sailors aboard.

National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the deployment is meant as "a show of support for regional stability." He added that President Bush is concerned about the situation in Lebanon, as international frustration mounts over a long political deadlock that the U.S. blames on Syria.

The presidential election in Lebanon has been delayed 15 times. Just this week the date was pushed back to March 11. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to visit the Middle East next week.

Michel Aoun, a major opposition leader to the U.S.-backed government in Beirut, said the ship movements looked like a calculated show of force by the United States.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the deployment should not be viewed as threatening or in response to events in any single country.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration on Thursday announced it was imposing economic sanctions on four people it accused of helping with the flow of money, weapons, terrorists and other resources from Syria into Iraq.

— The Associated Press