Israeli forces storm Gaza neighborhood

GAZA CITY: Terrified residents ran for cover in a densely populated neighborhood of Gaza City as Israeli troops backed by tanks thrust deeper into the city.

Early Wednesday an Israeli warplane fired a missile at the old Gaza city hall, used as a court building in recent years, witnesses said. The 1910 structure was destroyed and many stores in the marketa round it were badly damaged, they said.

Palestinian hospital officials say more than 940 Palestinians, half of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting. A total of13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers, have died.

Fireballs and smoke plumes from Israeli bombing have become a common sight in the territory of 1.4 million people, who are effectively trapped because of blockaded border crossings. Recent fighting has focused on Gaza City, where Israeli soldiers could be increasingly exposed to the treacherous conditions of urban warfare.