Mideast peace talks off

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The Palestinian Authority president suspended peace talks yesterday as Israel vowed to press ahead with its Gaza offensive until extremists halt rocket attacks.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said an even broader Gaza operation was possible, aimed at crushing rocket squads but also to "weaken the Hamas rule, in the right circumstances, even to bring it down."

The Palestinian death toll rose by 26 yesterday and early today, bringing the number killed to 114 since the latest bout of fighting erupted Wednesday, according to Palestinian medical officials and extremist groups. At least 54 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed Saturday, the single deadliest day in more than seven years of fighting.

Gaza extremists fired more than 25 rockets at southern Israel yesterday, the military said, scoring direct hits on houses in the city of Ashkelon and the town of Sderot. Nine Israelis were injured, rescue services said.

The violence also clouded a planned visit to the region this week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said peace talks with Israel had been halted.

"For the time being, the negotiations are suspended because we have so many funerals," he said. It was unclear when the talks, relaunched in November at a U.S.-hosted summit, would resume.

The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have set a December target for concluding a final peace deal. But instead of promoting peace, Rice will likely spend her visit this week trying to put out the latest fire.

The Bush administration demanded a halt to the fighting.

"The violence needs to stop and the talks need to resume," Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said in Texas.

Before dawn yesterday, Israeli aircraft sent missiles slamming into the empty offices of Gaza's Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh. No one was hurt, but the attack was seen as a tough message to the Hamas leadership.

After nightfall, Israeli aircraft struck targets around Gaza City's Shati refugee camp and at Jebaliya, farther north, where one extremist was killed and four were wounded, Palestinian security officials said.

The Israeli military said it fired at gunmen in Jabaliya, hitting one person. It had no immediate comment on any attack on Shati.

Before midnight, Israel moved additional ground forces and armored vehicles into northern Gaza, widening its area of operation to about a mile, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said. Also, aircraft attacked two metal workshops in northern Gaza, wounding 10, they said.

The military said that the troop rotations were routine.

Eleven Palestinians, including a 21-month-old girl, were killed yesterday, and 10 others died of earlier wounds or were found dead, Palestinian medical officials said. Early today, five Hamas extremists were reported killed.

Roughly half of those killed since Wednesday were civilians, medical officials said. On Saturday, Palestinian leaders called the killings "genocide."

"We are following the aggression against our people in Gaza," Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters. He said he had contacted the U.N. Security Council, the European Union and Arab leaders "to work to stop this aggression."

Abbas has wielded little influence in Gaza since Hamas vanquished his forces and took over in June. In a symbolic move, he donated blood for Gaza residents at his West Bank office.

The normally bustling streets of Gaza City were eerily empty. The sound of verses from the Muslim holy book, the Quran, sounding from mosque loudspeakers mingled with the roar of Israeli warplanes and unmanned drones in the sky.

Hundreds gathered outside Gaza hospitals waiting for bodies to be brought out of morgues for burial.

Yesterday's reduced casualty count may have been the result of new measures imposed by Hamas. It told its fighters to use alleys for cover and avoid moving in large groups, ordered schools closed, and set up roadblocks to keep civilians out of battle zones.

The unrest spilled over to the West Bank, where Abbas and his Fatah faction run a rival government.

In the West Bank town of Hebron, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy was fatally shot in the chest during a protest against Israel, Palestinian medical officials said. It was the first death in the West Bank connected to the Gaza offensive.

An Israeli military spokesman said youths staged a "violent demonstration," throwing firebombs and putting soldiers at risk.

The Gaza offensive drew a chorus of international condemnation. The EU and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon accused Israel of using excessive force. The U.N. Security Council urged Israelis and Palestinians "to immediately cease all acts of violence."

At the weekly meeting of his cabinet, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the criticism. "Nothing will prevent us from continuing operations to protect our citizens," he said. "No one has the moral right to preach to Israel for taking the elementary step of self-defense."

Olmert, commenting on the suspension of talks, said "attacking Hamas strengthens the chance for peace."