 Israeli tanks and military jeeps began to patrol the border with Gaza on Monday, as the air offensive against Hamas continued.
Israel targeted a house next to the Hamas premier's home early on Monday after pounding government buildings and tunnels used for smuggling, sending more tanks and artillery toward the Gaza border.
Israeli leaders said they would press ahead with the Gaza campaign, despite international criticism and enraged protests across the Arab world.
Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni said the goal was to permanently halt the barrages of rocket fire from Gaza that have targeted civilians in growing swaths of Israel's south, but not to reoccupy the Palestinian territory.
"For months now, they targeted Israel, Israel we showed restraint. We entered this true and it was violated. They had this false impression that Israel is not going to act against them. So they wanted to abuse the situation, and this was the reason that last week they targeted Israel with 80 rockets a day. They thought that this can lead them to a better situation, and this was a moment in which we decided we cannot tolerate it any more."
So far, the Israeli air strikes have caused the deaths of up to 320 Palestinians and wounded more than 1400.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday condemned Israel's deadliest offensive against Palestinians in decades, calling it a "sweeping aggression against Gaza."
"We condemn with the strongest terms this sweeping Israeli aggression against our people in Gaza and we call on the International community and the Arab world to stop this aggression, and two days ago, since the beginning of this attack we called on the International community and the Arab world, and will continue this call to stop immediately this aggression against our people in the Gaza strip, and to return calm to the Gaza Strip so as not to increase the suffering of the people and the siege."
Abbas said that he would invite all factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad for consultations to collectively stop the aggression.
The U.N. Security Council has called on both sides to halt the fighting and asked Israel to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza.
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