Hamas Missile Hits School Bus

The AP reports:

An anti-tank missile fired from the Gaza Strip struck a school bus in southern Israel Thursday, wounding two people, one of them critically, and prompting fierce Israeli retaliation that killed five Palestinians.

Israel unleashed airstrikes and tank fire against Hamas targets across the border in the heaviest assault on the coastal territory since a broad military offensive two years ago. Besides the dead, more than 30 Palestinians were wounded, said Palestinian health official Adham Abu Salmiya.

He said one of the dead was a 50-year-old civilian who was sitting outside his home when he was struck by tank fire. Three others were militants killed near the southern Gaza town of Rafah. The fifth man was a Hamas policeman.

Near midnight, the Hamas-run government reported that Palestinian militants had agreed to a cease-fire in an effort to halt the spiraling violence. After this announcement, Israeli aircraft targeted smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza, an abandoned house east of Gaza City and a group of armed men in that area, Hamas security officials said. No casualties were reported.

The military had no immediate comment on the reported air attacks.