January 17, 2009	Saturday	Muharram 19, 1430

GAZA CITY, Jan 16: At least 10 people were killed on Friday in an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City during a funeral vigil, according to Palestinian medics.

Earlier, a woman and her five children -- all under the age of 13 -- were killed when an air strike destroyed their house in Jabaliya.

Amid feverish diplomacy in Cairo and Washington, Israel said its offensive could be “in the final act”, but again bombarded the Gaza Strip, where more than 1,150 Palestinians have been killed and 5,000 wounded in three weeks of fighting.

Gazans savoured some respite a day after fierce combat that some had seen as a final Israeli push before a ceasefire.

But Israeli strikes intensified later, killing 30 Gazans.

Among them were fighters, including an Islamic Jihad commander in the southern town of Khan Younis, and civilians.

At least 15 rockets and mortar rounds landed in Israel from Gaza, wounding five people, the army said. At least 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in such attacks.

Medics taking advantage of a “humanitarian pause” in Gaza said they had recovered 23 bodies from Thursday’s battle zones.

Chanting crowds attended the funeral of a top Hamas leader, Saeed Seyyam, killed in an Israeli air strike along with nine other people. Seyyam was the interior minister in Gaza’s government and leader of 13,000 security men.

About 45,000 Gazans fleeing the fighting had taken refuge in UN-run schools in the enclave, officials said.

Palestinian medical officials reported an 11-year-old girl was killed in shelling in northern Gaza and witnesses reported an airstrike on a Gaza City mosque as people were headed there for Friday prayers.

Israeli forces had killed 1,157 people and wounded about 5,100 during the war, the Hamas-run health ministry said.—Agencies