Dec 28 (Reuters) - Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip from the air on Sunday and prepared for a possible invasion after killing at least 307 Palestinians in two days of attacks. Following are developments in the fighting until 2359 GMT: (* Denotes new or updated items) * GAZA - Palestinian medics say seven people, including five young sisters, die in an air strike in northern Gaza and three young children are killed when a bomb strikes a house near the abandoned home of a senior Hamas militant in Rafah. * GAZA - Israeli naval vessels pound Gaza port, targeting Hamas structures, an official from the group's security wing says. GAZA - Hamas says an Israeli air strike after dark destroys a laboratory building at the Islamic University, a significant cultural symbol of Hamas. Israel has accused Hamas of using the facilities to develop explosives. An Israeli spokeswoman confirms the facility which Hamas had used for weapons and explosives development was targeted. BEERSHEBA - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak tells commanders at the operation's military headquarters the offensive is open-ended, saying "the Israeli army is continuing and shall continue to act to achieve the goals". GAZA - Israeli air strike targets police compound in refugee camp near Gaza City, injuring four Hamas policemen, medics say. The strike occurred a block away from the house of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's government in Gaza. EGYPT/GAZA BORDER - Dozens of Palestinians cross into Egyptian territory from Gaza as Egyptian riot police fire in the air to fend them off. Some Palestinians used bulldozers and explosives to blow open sections of the border wall. Egyptian security official says 40 Palestinians were arrested after crossing into Egypt. GAZA/EGYPT BORDER - Israeli aircraft bomb some 40 smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, part of a network that runs under the border with Egypt and provides a lifeline to the outside world. Israeli bombs also destroy Hamas's regional headquarters, wounding several people. GAZA - Separate Israeli air strikes target a car travelling in the northern Gaza Strip and a Hamas security compound in the south of the coastal enclave. A Palestinian militant was killed in the first attack and at least three people, including two Hamas security men, were wounded in the second. ISRAEL/GAZA BORDER - Israeli tanks deploy on the edge of the Gaza Strip in preparation for a possible ground incursion into the enclave. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet approves a call-up of 6,500 reservists. GAZA - Israeli air strike destroys much of Hamas's main security complex in the Gaza Strip, which holds hundreds of prisoners, killing at least four Hamas security men. GAZA - Israeli aircraft strike a shelter near the office of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas's government in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh was not in the office during the strike and no casualties were reported. GAN YAVNE, Israel - Hamas fires over 80 rockets, at least one of which hits the town of Gan Yavne, some 30 km (18 miles) inside Israel from the Gaza border, causing no casualties. GAZA - A predawn Israeli air strike destroys the headquarters of Hamas's Al Aqsa television station. Shortly after, the station continued broadcasting from an unknown location. GAZA - Series of Israeli air strikes targeting vehicles, Hamas government buildings and police station kills three Palestinians and injures about a dozen others. (Jerusalem newsroom; Editing by Alison Williams)
The sun sets behind an Israeli tank near Kibbutz Mefalsim, just outside the northern Gaza Strip December 28, 2008. Israel destroyed Hamas's main Gaza security complex in an air strike on ...
