35 Palestinians killed as Israel further steps up Gaza offensive

Israel further intensified its land offensive in Gaza with artillery, tanks and gunboats early Saturday and warned it could ‘significantly widen’ an operation Palestinian officials said was killing ever greater numbers of civilians. Palestinian health officials said 35 Palestinians, including a baby, four children and a 70-year-old woman, had been killed since Israel sent ground forces on Thursday into the densely-populated enclave of 1.8 million Palestinians. The Israeli military said it killed 17 Palestinian gunmen while another 13 surrendered and were taken for questioning after the infantry and tank assault began in the Islamist Hamas-dominated territory. One Israeli soldier was killed and several others were wounded in the Gaza Strip operations, in which some 150 targets, including 21 concealed rocket launchers and four tunnels, have been attacked, according to the military, according to a news agency.