Ramallah - Condemning the Israeli offensive in Gaza as a "heinous aggression" and a "horrific crime," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that negotiations with Israel cannot continue in their current form.

Tel Aviv - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will travel to Paris Thursday to debate the crisis in Gaza with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon, a senior adviser said.

The adviser, Yigal Palmor, said they would discuss "different ideas about what can be done on the diplomatic level" - but not a French proposal for a 48-hour humanitarian truce in Gaza, which Israel has rejected.

Gaza/Tel Aviv - The death toll of five days of ferocious Israeli air raids against Hamas targets in Gaza has reached 400, de- facto health minister Basam Naim said Wednesday.

Some 2,000 Gazans have been injured, about 300 of whom are in serious condition, causing the death toll to rise rapidly, he said.

The official of the radical Islamic movement ruling Gaza claimed that half of Gaza's ambulances were out of service due to lack of petrol.

Four Israelis have also been killed and several dozen injured by Palestinian rocket attacks at southern Israel since its Operation "Cast Lead" got underway Saturday.

Gaza City  - The streets of Gaza City are almost empty. After five days of ferocious Israeli airstrikes which have not let up, those who do venture into the exposed outdoors do so to buy bread or stock up on groceries.

Schools have been cancelled and shops are closed, save for a few grocery stoors and bakeries.

Gaza City - At least two people were killed Wednesday evening in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza, raising the Palestinian death toll of five days of heavy Israeli air raides to at least 393,