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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel's government has decided to continue its offensive in the Palestinian territory of Gaza despite a French proposal for a humanitarian truce, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Visiting a bomb shelter and hospital in Ashkelon, which was hit by Hamas rockets again Wednesday, Israeli President Shimon Peres said there is no point in discussing a truce until the rocket fire ends.
"Israel will not accept a 'Strip of Terror' alongside us, and accordingly Hamas operatives have tasted the flavor of Israel's response in the last few days," Peres said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security Cabinet met Wednesday to discuss the progress of the bombing campaign, now in its fifth day.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had proposed a truce that would allow humanitarian aid into the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory, but Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Olmert and his top advisers agreed to continue the attacks.
"There is broad international consensus that the residents of the south of Israel must have a real and sustainable solution and not a Band-Aid that will just kick the can down the road," Regev said. Watch what may be influencing Israeli decision-making »
However, Regev said Israel would work with the international community to meet the humanitarian needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
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Karen AbuZayd, the commissioner-general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, said more than 150 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were allowed into the territory Tuesday, but she said the situation in the region remains desperate.
"There's no fuel, there's no power plant, there's no electricity working now," she said. Watch why the U.N. is frustrated »
Israeli airstrikes have pounded the territory since Saturday in an effort to halt the firing of rockets into southern Israel, with more than 390 Palestinians killed, according to Palestinian medical sources. They said 1,900 people are wounded, including 400 women and children.
Israeli sources say four Israelis have been killed by Palestinian rocket fire.
"Hundreds of families in the Gaza Strip are suffering, not only [from] the fear of airstrikes, but also the lack of electricity, lack of water, lack of food supplies," Saud Abu Ramadan, a freelance journalist who lives in Gaza City, told CNN's "American Morning."
"Hospitals are full of casualties and bodies of people who were killed over the past five days," he said. "The situation, in terms of the humanitarian aspect, is very, very difficult."
Wednesday's air assault struck the office of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and the Hamas Interior Ministry, the Israel Defense Forces told CNN. A military statement said Haniya's office "is used as a center for the planning, support and financing of terrorist activities against Israel."
Israeli forces attacked about 10 sites in Gaza on Wednesday morning, including tunnels, rocket launching sites and Hamas training facilities, an Israeli security source said.
Meanwhile, more than 30 rockets landed in southern Israel on Wednesday, including at least four in Beer Sheva, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said. Beer Sheva, about 25 miles away from Gaza, is the farthest that rockets from Gaza have ever landed inside Israel.
Rockets also landed in Ashdod, Ofakim, Sderot, and areas near Gaza, Rosenfeld said. Two people were slightly wounded, he added.
Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by Israel and the United States, has vowed to defend Gaza in the face of what it calls continued Israeli aggression. Each side blames the other for violating an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire that expired December 19. Learn more about Gaza's political history »
The United Nations has called on both sides to end the violence, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has roundly condemned both sides.
Israel has moved tanks to the outskirts of Gaza and called up at least 2,000 army reservists, sparking fears of a ground incursion into the Palestinian territory. Watch how Israel is sitting on Gaza's border »
The Israeli military says it is targeting only Hamas militants. But AbuZayd said 20 to 25 percent of the casualties arriving in Gaza hospitals appear to be civilians, and she said the bombardment is not turning the people of the territory against Hamas.
"Hamas is not the one being blamed. It's still Israel, America," she said.


Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Gaza aid boat 'rammed by Israel'
A boat delivering 3.5 tonnes of Cypriot medical aid to the Gaza Strip has been rammed by Israeli naval vessels in international waters, activists say.
The Free Gaza campaign group, which operates the Dignity, also claimed shots were fired towards the crew.
The boat later docked in Lebanon after sustaining serious damage to one side.
Israeli officials confirmed there had been "physical contact" but denied reports of shooting and said the crew had not responded to radio calls.
The 20m (66ft) Dignity was carrying 15 civilian passengers, including several doctors, journalists, a former US congresswoman and a member of the Cypriot parliament, says Free Gaza.
'Heavy gunfire'

Crowds turned out to greet the Dignity as it arrived in Tyre port.The organisation sent out an urgent statement on Tuesday saying the vessel had been surrounded by at least six Israeli military ships.
"They are firing live ammunition around the Dignity, and one of the warships has rammed the civilian craft causing an unknown amount of damage," said the statement.
"We heard heavy gunfire in the background before all contact was lost with the Dignity."
The boat was eventually able to reach the Lebanese port of Tyre, where it was greeted by a flotilla of fishing boats.
Heavy damage was clearly visible along one side but there were no reports of any injuries.
The Dignity's captain, Denis Healey, told reporters in Tyre they had been attacked "without any warning, any provocation, or anything".
"There were two other gunboats on our portside with search lights shining at us, distracting us, while a third boat came from ahead and rammed us," he said.
Another crew member, British doctor David Halpin, described hearing "the most almighty three bangs" and said he thought he was going to die.
'Light damage'
The boat setting off from Cyprus with aid
A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Yigal Palmor, said the navy had tried to contact the Dignity by radio to say it could not enter Gaza.
Much of the small region has been surrounded by a closed military zone since the Israeli bombardment began four days ago.
"After the boat did not answer the radio, it sharply veered and the two vessels collided, causing only light damage," said Mr Palmor.
Speaking before the ship set sail from Cyprus, spokesperson Renee Boyer said the crew were not taking the voyage lightly and did not expect it to be easy.
Free Gaza said the incident was "an act of terrorism", as well as a violation of international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The group has sent six boat loads of aid into the Gaza Strip in the past few months and said they would try again to deliver the medical supplies.