Tel Aviv  - Israeli fighter jets flew another sortie over the southern Gaza Strip's border with Egypt around sunset Tuesday, bombing a series of smuggling tunnels, military officials said.

Already earlier in its air campaign against Hamas which was launched on Saturday, the Israeli army said it had destroyed as many as 40 tunnels in a matter of minutes as planes dropped bombs on them.

The vast network of tunnels under the border town of Rafah is used to smuggle goods and weapons into the strip, circumventing a tight Israeli blockade.

Gaza/Tel Aviv  - After three days of massive airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, Israel was readying Monday to widen its offensive against Hamas by sending in ground forces.

The toll of Operation "Cast Lead" - launched Saturday to curb rocket and mortar attacks from the strip - meanwhile reached at least 345 Palestinian dead and 1,600 injured, Gaza emergency services chief Mu'awia Hassanein said. Two Israelis have also been killed and dozens injured.

Tel Aviv/Gaza - The Israel Air Force bombed and rocketed Gaza for the third day running Monday, hitting some 40 targets overnight of the Islamic Hamas movement that rules the area, the Israeli military said.

More than 300 Palestinians have been killed since the massive air campaign, codenamed "Operation Cast Lead," started Saturday, just over a week after a fragile, six-month truce between Israel and Hamas formally ended.

Tel Aviv/Gaza - The Israel Air Force bombed Gaza again Monday morning, hitting 40 targets of the Islamic Hamas movement that rules the area, an Israeli army spokesman said.

More than 300 Palestinians have been killed since the massive air operation started Saturday, just over a week after a fragile, six-month truce between Israel and Hamas formally ended.

Since the truce ended December 19, militant factions in Gaza, notably the Islamic Jihad and Hamas, fired scores of rockets and mortar rounds at Israel.

Berlin  - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Israel on Sunday to do everything in its power to avoid civilian casualties in its military action in the Gaza Strip.

Steinmeier, in a statement released by his ministry, also called for an end to missile attacks on Israeli territory by militants loyal to the enclave's Hamas leadership.

The German minister discussed the deteriorating situation by telephone Sunday with European Union foreign policy supremo Javier Solana and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country takes over the rotating EU presidency on January 1.

Lonfdon  - More than 1,500 people staged a noisy protest outside the Israeli embassy in London on Sunday n response to Israeli airstrikes that left hundreds dead in the Gaza Strip.

Police were forced to call in reinforcements after protesters tore down barriers holding them back and hurled projectiles in the direction of the diplomatic mission.

Three people were charged with disturbing public order after police forcibly removed a number of protesters from the gathering in the west of London.

Traffic in the area ground to a halt as the protest swelled from an initial group of 500 Palestinians and other people opposed to the Israeli military action in Gaza.