Israel vowed on Saturday, following massive airstrikes in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, that it is poised for more offensives in the Palestinian enclave till bringing the southern borderland back to quiet and security.

Over 200 people were killed and another several hundreds wounded in the simultaneous raids around noon against dozens of Hamas' security installations, marking the bloodiest day in decades on this volatile piece of land.

During the massive operation, which Israel said was launched in response to the ongoing cross-border rocket attacks, the Israeli army executed two waves of attacks, with some 80 warplanes and helicopters involved and over 100 bombs dropped, reported local news service Ynet.

Later in the day, Palestinian sources said that Israeli aircraft carried out more bombardments in the coastal area, during one of which three more were killed in the evening.

"We are not happy about the clashes, but we are not afraid either. There is a time for calm and a time for battle; now is the time for battle," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told a press conference after the midday assaults.

The offensive has three objectives: giving Hamas a forceful blow, fundamentally changing the situation in Gaza, and ending the rocket attacks against Israeli citizens, said the former premier.

"The operation will be deepened and expanded as much as necessary. I don't want to delude anyone. It won't be easy or short, but we have to be determined," said Barak. "We must do everything to restore calm."

In the evening, the Israeli army reportedly began building up troops and tanks along the Gaza border, apparently in preparations for a possible ground incursion in case that the airborne attacks failed to accomplish desirable results.

The deadly strikes came less than two months after Israel and Gaza militant groups resumed clashes following five relatively quiet months, during which both sides generally observed an Egypt-brokered truce deal.

Gazan militants have since pummeled southern Israel on a nearly daily basis. Israeli defense establishment said that during the past two weeks, some 300 rockets and mortar shells were fired into Israel, causing several casualties and generating widespread panic.

In response, Israeli officials warned that the Jewish state would take decisive moves soon to restore security in the south.

The Hamas movement, which Israel blacklists as terrorist organization, must take responsibility for the cross-border barrage, said an Israeli army spokesperson on Saturday, while stressing that Israel also regards Hamas as "the sole bearer of responsibility for Israel's military response."

"Israel stresses that it will continue to take action against the terror attacks and rocket fire emanating form Gaza against Israeli citizens," said a statement from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office, echoing Barak's remarks.

In a joint press conference with Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Olmert reiterated that the government will give the army time to operate in Gaza as the efforts to return residents of southern Israel to a normal life will take time.

On the diplomatic front, Israel stepped up public relations efforts to garner international support for its military operations in the strip.

Livni stressed to foreign officials that Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 to give peace a chance, but Hamas overrun it, leaving Israel with "no other option but to strike" in order to protect its citizens.

Addressing the humanitarian concerns of the international community, Olmert said that Israel's enemy is not Gazan residents but Hamas, and that his nation will do whatever it can to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the impoverished area.

In the backyard, as many right-wing political leaders voiced support for the harsh measure, thousands of Israeli Arabs went on streets to protest against Israel's Gaza campaign, with some lawmakers accusing Barak of committing a war crime and attempting to gain political capital for the February 10 general election. Clashes between demonstrators and security forces were reported in communities across the country, and Israeli police has been put on high alert.

Shortly after the midday airstrikes, an Israeli was killed and several others wounded when a rocket from the Gaza Strip hit a house in southern Israel. Amid worries that Gazan militants would carry out a massive rocket barrage in retaliation, Israeli officials have put communities near the border on alert and urged local residents to stay in shelter rooms.

In an interview published on Saturday morning, Israeli President Shimon Peres said that Israel has no plan to retake Gaza, playing down worries that only a reoccupation could blow away the clouds over southern Israel.

Meanwhile, Barak did not rule out the possibility to conduct ground operations in the Palestinian territory. "We are a nation that seeks life, and we must do everything to restore calm," said the minister.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2008)