Tel Aviv -

Tel Aviv/Gaza - Three Israeli soldiers were killed and 24 injured overnight by friendly fire, the Israeli military confirmed Tuesday.

An Israeli tank fired a shell by mistake at a building in which the soldiers had taken cover during fighting with armed Palestinians, a military spokeswoman said. One of the injured soldiers was in critical conditions and three others in serious condition, she said.

The incident raised the Israeli death toll in the ground offensive begun Saturday to four soldiers.

Gaza City, Jan. 6 : A Hamas leader has warned that Islamists would kill Jewish children anywhere in the world in revenge for Israel's devastating assault on the Gaza Strip.

"They have legitimized the murder of their own children by killing the children of Palestine. They have legitimised the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people," The Times quoted Mahmoud Zahar, as saying in a televised broadcast recorded at a secret location.

Washington - The United States is pushing for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that would require Hamas to halt rocket attacks into Israel but would also open crossings into the isolated enclave, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to more than a dozen counterparts over the weekend seeking support for the initiative, which would also address tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons from Egypt as part as the three-point approach, McCormack said.

Gaza - Fierce clashes erupted Monday night in eastern and northern Gaza City between Palestinian militants and Israel soldiers, witnesses said.

Witnesses said they heard heavy and intensive tank shelling in the Tufah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, and added that Israeli troops and militants were also engaged in gun battles.

Gaza resident Mohamed al-Aklouk said dozens of tanks shells were fired at eastern and northern Gaza City within less than 30 minutes, and several houses were destroyed in the area.

Amman  - Jordan's Queen Rania on Monday issued an impassioned appeal to the world community to move promptly to force Israel to halt its offensive on the Gaza Strip for humanitarian reasons.