Israel launches ground assault

Hamas leaders vow to fight to the last breath

JERUSALEM -- Israeli tanks and soldiers punched into the Hamas-led Gaza Strip on Saturday night as Israel's 8-day-old military campaign to destabilize the hard-line Islamist rulers moved into a more volatile phase.

Backed by Apache helicopters, Navy warships and artillery batteries, the Israeli ground forces moved into northern Gaza in an attempt to seize control of open fields and orchards along the border that have been used regularly by Palestinian militants to fire crude rockets into southern Israel.

Residents in northern Gaza hiding in their homes said Israeli soldiers were quickly confronted by Palestinian militants that had been lying in wait. Palestinians in the area reported intense firefights taking place but there was no immediate word on fighters killed on either side.

The ground offensive sets the stage for a deadly showdown that could significantly shake up Middle East political dynamics by either cowing hard-line Hamas ideologues into moderating their views or propelling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a deadly new spiral of unpredictable violence.

Soon after Israeli tanks rolled into the Gaza Strip on Saturday night, Hamas leaders vowed to fight to the "last breath."

"We promise you that Gaza will be your graveyard," Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said on the Islamist group's Al Aqsa television station.

Speaking to his nation as soldiers advanced into Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the military campaign "will not be short or easy."

"We are not war hungry," Barak said. "But we shall not, I repeat -- we shall not -- allow a situation in which our towns, villages and civilians are constantly targeted by Hamas."

In an effort to isolate the Gaza Strip, Barak imposed a naval blockade on Saturday night and ordered thousands more reservists to report for duty.

World urges cease-fire

The United Nations Security Council called an emergency session Saturday evening in New York, and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged an immediate halt to Israel's invasion. Ban said he'd conveyed his "extreme concern and disappointment" to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The U.S. State Department, in a statement released Saturday evening, echoed Israel's stated goals.

"We are working toward a cease-fire that would not allow a re-establishment of the status quo ante, where Hamas can continue to launch rockets out of Gaza and to condemn the people of Gaza to a life of misery," it read in part. "It is obvious that a cease-fire should take place as soon as possible, but we need a cease-fire that is durable, sustainable, and not time-limited."

At the same time, "we have expressed our concerns to the Israeli government that any military action needs to be mindful of the potential consequences to civilians," the statement concluded.

Earlier in the day, before the invasion began, President George W. Bush, in his weekly radio address, backed Israel's use of force and said that Hamas must take the first step toward a cease-fire.

President-elect Barack Obama took no position. While Obama was "closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza," according to his chief national security spokeswoman, Brooke Anderson, "there is one president at a time, and we intend to respect that."

Taking aim at supplies

The Israeli ground operation is likely to quickly expand to Gaza's southern border with Egypt as Israel tries to choke off the supply of weapons ferried in to Palestinian militants by a network of smuggler's tunnels.

More than 430 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed since the Israeli military launched a devastating series of air strikes last Saturday on the Gaza Strip.

Israel methodically destroyed hundreds of Gaza Strip targets, including the Palestinian Authority's Gaza Strip parliament building, government offices, the largest university, police stations, and mosques the Israeli military claimed were used to store rockets or hide militants.

As part of the operation, the Israeli military has barred international reporters from entering Gaza, despite a court order directing them to let at least some journalists in to cover the unfolding conflict.

Television shots of the initial ground operations showed intense Israeli attacks. One strike along the Gaza coast created a massive fireball that lit up the night sky.

Israel's offensive came as tentative diplomatic efforts to bring the deadly conflict to a quick end failed to gather significant momentum over the weekend.

Several world leaders also have called for an immediate truce, though Israeli leaders have said that they won't agree to a new deal with Hamas that is not enforced by outside monitors, perhaps from the United Nations, the Arab League or forces loyal to pragmatic Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli leaders rebuffed early appeals for a 48-hour truce, and Hamas vowed to keep firing rockets until Israel re-opened its borders to allow critical food, aid and supplies into Gaza.