Israel-Hamas "War" Gets Bloodier

Israeli ground forces backed by warplanes exchanged fire with Hamas gunmen in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing a teacher and six militants in escalating violence that is hobbling peace efforts.

The 38-year-old teacher died and two other staffers were hurt when an Israeli surface-to-surface missile struck an agricultural school in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, Hamas security forces said. Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of the Gaza Health Ministry said the man was killed outside of the school gate.

The Israeli military, which frequently operates in Beit Hanoun against Palestinian rocket squads, said it opened fire in the area at a group of rocket launchers. "We definitely did not fire at a school," a military spokeswoman said, adding that the military was looking into the report. She spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

The fighting erupted earlier in the day after Israeli tanks drove several hundred yards into northern Gaza. Hamas militants and Israel troops traded automatic fire, as Israeli aircraft fired missiles and Hamas lobbed mortar shells.

Five Hamas men were killed, three by missiles and two by gunfire, said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing. Two were field commanders, he said. The Islamic Jihad faction said one of its militants also died in the clash.

Palestinian medics confirmed that six bodies were removed from the area.

The military reported that seven rockets were fired at southern Israel on Thursday morning, including one that landed in the yard of a home in the rocket-scarred town of Sderot, slightly injuring one person. Hamas said it fired 40 rockets and 60 mortars at southern Israel since a deadly Israeli air strike on a Hamas outpost Tuesday afternoon. The military said some 70 rockets and mortars had been fired.

The operation, which ended by late morning, was the latest in escalating Israel-Hamas violence. In recent days, Hamas carried out a suicide attack in Israel, killing an elderly Israeli woman, and stepped up its rocket barrages on Israeli border towns. Israel has intensified air strikes, including the one on the outpost that killed seven Hamas policemen.

On Wednesday, a Hamas rocket hit Kibbutz Beeri, an Israeli communal village about 4 miles from the border fence, injured two sisters, ages 12 and 2, as they played in their yard, police said. They were not seriously hurt. Their mother was taken to a hospital for shock.

After nightfall Wednesday, Israeli aircraft hit a metal workshop in central Gaza, Hamas said. No one was hurt. The military had no immediate comment.

The new upsurge in fighting threatened to overwhelm peacemaking efforts in an avalanche of rocket attacks, reprisals and bombings. Hamas, which does not recognize Israel and opposes a peace deal, has repeatedly acted as spoiler.

It is unlikely that Hamas' rival, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, can press ahead with serious peace talks with Israel during intense conflict between Israel and Hamas.

With Monday's suicide attack, the first in three years, Hamas also signaled a change in direction, after saying earlier that it was interested in a cease-fire deal with Israel.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri defended the bombing. "There is no choice, no option for our people, but to resist the occupation and defend themselves by all possible means," he said.

CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports that a poll released Wednesday shows Hamas gained popularity by breaking down the border wall with Egypt on Jan. 23, allowing Gazans a 12-day window to cross at will before Egypt closed the breaches on Sunday.

Israel, meanwhile, planned to keep up its economic pressure on Gaza. Last week Israel's Supreme Court cleared the way for reduction in electricity supplies starting Thursday.

"We need to understand there is a war in the south," Vice Premier Haim Ramon told Israel Radio on Wednesday. "The war against Hamas has to be fought on all fronts."

In Gaza, the Hamas-dominated legislature canceled Wednesday's session, fearing an Israeli attack. The Israeli military refused to comment.